


Have a Little Faith

by MrsEclipse9856



Category: Armageddon (1998)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 05:33:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 41,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4251237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsEclipse9856/pseuds/MrsEclipse9856
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story through the eyes of Harry's older daughter, Faith.</p><p> </p><p>*Jaimie Alexander was my reference for Faith.<br/>http://www.polyvore.com/have_little_faith/set?id=166609519</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When Do We Start?

"Harry, this not funny!" Faith Stamper heard her sister, Grace, yell. Whatever was going on, it was not good. Letting out a breath, Faith hopped over the railing in search of her little sister and their dad.

Living and working on an oil rig meant that everyone lived in close quarters for a month at a time. Most of the time, they all got along like one big, dysfunctional family but, sometimes, people clashed. Usually, it wasn’t a big deal, however, her father marching through the rig with a shotgun meant someone was in a hell of a lot of trouble.

"So, is this a serious thing?" Chick, her dad’s best friend, asked as Faith jumped onto the deck behind them.

Harry looked at the man next to him without so much as slowing down. "Pretty serious."

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Harry,” she said as soon as she realized just who he was chasing. “She’s nineteen. She knows what she’s doing.”

Her dad stopped to look at her. "What is with you two not calling me dad like normal people?"

"Normal? Since when the hell are we normal?” Faith asked, putting her hands on her hips. “Girls Grace's age are usually in college, not managing operations for an oil company. I hate to break it to you but we aren't kids anymore. And you're like six months late on the whole A.J. thing."

Faith knew something like this was coming the second she found out about her sister's relationship with the rig's resident hothead. She promised not to tell on the pair but warned Grace that Harry was gonna flip his shit if they didn't let him know. A.J. was more like Harry than either man cared to acknowledge, which was both good and bad depending on which side of the argument you were on. Though, to be honest, that was probably why Grace connected with A.J. in the first place.

“You knew?” her father asked, his sky-blue eyes locking with her hazel. "You knew about this?"

"Of course, I knew. She's my baby sister and, unlike you, I actually pay attention to what happens around here. It's my company too, you know." She pulled the shotgun from his grasp and heard Chick let out the breath he was holding. "You can't go shooting up the rig, I put too much work into keeping everything functional and I'd have to hurt you if you did some damage. Now, if you want to know what's going on go talk to them. They love each other, it’s annoying cute."

Her dad huffed but before he could say anything, Grace pushed past them to A.J.. Faith didn't say anything as her sister wrapped her arms around A.J.'s middle, Harry glaring at them the whole time. The engineer rolled her eyes and looked at the man next to her.

“How the hell did I end up being the adult around here?”

"Well, you are smarter than him." Chick shrugged. She gave him a nudge and shook her head, he did have a point.

“I can hear you,” Harry said without looking at them.

“And your point?” she asked with a smile. “You put as much focus on them as you do me and Chick, you’d be golden.”

“He's just being a dad, monkey."

“He’s a few years too late,” Faith told her adoptive uncle. “We grew up right under his nose.”

Chick wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Yea, but at least he's trying. We should all be so lucky.”

Between their work schedules and crazy hours when they weren’t on the rig, most of their personal lives were messy. Faith was perpetually single. She doesn’t remember the last time Harry had a conversation with someone that wasn’t related to the company in some way. Chick hasn’t seen his son in almost a year.

"You and Denise will sort it out. Hopefully, before Tommy turns forty?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, here's hoping."

"Hey, we got incoming!" Rockhound yelled, alerting them to the helicopter that was preparing to touch down on the pad.

"Chick, go welcome the clients. Gracie and Frost, go get dressed. Dad, office and don't hurt anyone. We have a lot of work to do." They all looked at her. "Move." Faith watched as they all scurried off in different directions. “I’m too old for this shit.”

When she was twelve and Grace was five, their mother split. Harry, short on options and way past overprotective, took the girls to work with him. That meant that Faith ended up with the task of taking care of her sister. Most of the time, she felt like the girl’s mother, their seven-year age difference notwithstanding. Somehow, she ended up being the voice of reason for Harry and most of the crew too.

It was silly, thinking about it now, how she traded her ‘wisdom’ for information about the rig’s different systems. The more she helped, the more she learned and the more she learned, the more she wanted to do the job herself. Harry was proud -and surprised- when she decided to get a degree in engineering.

Between working through spring and summer breaks and applying to take stacked courses, she got her Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering in four and a half years from Texas A&M. The hard part was actually getting Harry to let her come back to the rig. He wanted her to go off and do 'something great' but she wanted to do what she loved. She had to threaten to work for another oil company before he relented and gave her a job on the crew.

“Was Harry really shooting at A.J.?” Freddy asked as soon as she rounded the corner outside her office.

“Yep,” she said with a nod, placing the weapon on her desk. “He found out about Grace and A.J.”

" _And_ that's why you two lovely ladies are strictly 'look but don't touch' in my book,” he said with a chuckle. “You're my friend, you're hot as sin and I love you to death but getting my balls shot off by your dad is not on my to-do list.”

“Too bad nobody dropped that bit of advice on A.J.,” Faith said.

Some of the guys on the rig were too dumb for their own good. Both Stamper girls learned a long time ago not to get too close to the guys like that. Faith can honestly say that she's never been with anyone on the crew but that didn't stop some from trying. As Freddy likes to remind her, they are both attractive. Grace had beautiful pale skin, a slender build, long black hair and their father's blue eyes. Faith had a slight tan from being in the sun, her body was toned from working on the rig, like her sister she had long black hair but she got their mother's hazel eyes.

"He's stubborn. Even if I did say something, he wouldn't have listened. You know A.J." Her best friend had a very valid point. AJ has worked for Stamper Oil for five years and his dad worked for Harry for a decade and a half before that. She knew he'd ignore it if they warned him.

"What I know is that none of this is gonna end well." No sooner had she said the words did she feel a tremor under her feet. She looked out the window and saw some of the guys sprinting towards the number two drill. "Shit."

"Harry, get up here. We're taking a hit." She heard Alex call to her father just as Faith and Freddy flew up the ladder to help.

"GET AJ UP HERE!" Harry yelled.

Harry was pissed. If she had to guess, someone -probably A.J.- turned on the number two pump after her dad turned it off last night. Faith started reading the instruments in front of her. The gauge was losing it.

"DAD! ITS A GAS POCKET," she yelled. He nodded.

"I told you! I told you! Am I a genius or what?" A.J. seemed pleased with himself, too bad he royally fucked up.

"I shut it down for a reason, jackass. The relief valve is fried open,” she heard her father say.

"SHUT DOWN NUMBER TWO!" Bear yelled up to them.

Faith looked over to where her sister was, a group of investors with her. "GRACIE, GET THE CLIENTS CLEAR!"

Faith was helping Bear and some of the guys clamp down the pipe when Harry told them all to bail out. Faith didn't need to be told twice. She pushed whoever was in front of her towards safety.

"GO! GO!" she ordered. Glancing back, Faith watched saw her dad and A.J. as they manually shut the system off. Looking around, everyone seemed to be okay. Covered in oil but okay.

"We stuck oil _BABY_!" She laughed at Bear's antics but she was worried. From the look on his face, AJ's bad day just got a whole lot worse.

"You fired him?" she asked her dad.

Harry nodded as he walked past her, "I had to."

She could admit it hurt; she’s known A.J. forever and he was one of the best guys on the crew. Sure, he didn't listen but he had more potential than anyone on the rig except for her. Honestly, the only reason she had a better chance than him is because she didn’t make a habit of pissing her dad off.

"Harry Stamper?" someone called. How they missed the military helicopter landing on the pad, she’ll never know. A man, who was clearly in charge, and some pilot-looking guys stepped up to the group of oil-covered roughnecks.

"I'm Harry Stamper." She watched her dad talk to the Air Force officers.

"What do you think that's about?" Benny asked over her shoulder. She honestly had no idea. Whatever they were talking about, Harry was leaving with them. One of the officers approached her and another walked over to Grace.

"Ma'am." She looked over the guy's shoulder and Harry gave her a nod. Faith tossed her hardhat to Freddy and let the officer lead her to the chopper.

"What's going on?" Grace asked before Faith could.

Harry shrugged at the question. "I don't actually know, girls."

After being asked to turn over their phones –which were covered in oil- they were strapped in and the helicopter took off. The engineer didn't like this.

"If you don't mind my asking, where are we going?" The General gave Grace a look but didn't answer her question.

Faith doesn’t know how long they were in the air before the helicopter landed on a US Navy ship, a carrier from the size of it. They were given clean clothes and a place to shower before they were loaded onto a plane and flown to Hawaii. From the Air Force base, they took another plane to Texas.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Harry asked to no one in particular. It's not like they ever answered them. Once they landed, they were put in SUVs with FBI agents and driven to the Johnson Space Center.

"Nothing good ever comes out of being called to NASA," Faith whispered to her dad.

"Mister Stamper, Miss Stamper and Miss Stamper," a man standing on the front step confirmed.

Her father nodded and shook hands with the man. "Yea, I'm Harry Stamper. My daughters; Faith and Grace."

The man shook her hand and then Grace's. "I'm Executive Director Dan Truman and on behalf of the President, I would like to…"

"Apologize. I don't know if we can take much more of that. We've spent the last eighteen and a half hours being apologized to. If it's alright with you, just tell us why we're here."

"Maybe we should talk alone." Truman glanced at her and Grace before looking at Harry.

Harry shook his head, "I don't keep things from my girls. You can tell 'em now or I'll tell 'em later but they'll find out either way. Let's get on with it."

Truman and another Air Force General named Kimsey led them through the building and into a briefing room. Everyone except Truman stood by the wall as he told the Stamper family to take a seat. He hit some commands on the screen and a big blob appeared.

"This is Dottie. It's an asteroid that's heading this way."

Faith sat up straight a looked at the pictures; the thing was massive. Harry sucked in a breath as Truman began to explain.

"When the rogue comet went through the asteroid belt, it sent shrapnel right for us. For the next fifteen days, the Earth is in a shooting gallery. Even if the asteroid itself hits the water, it's still hitting land. It will slam into the ocean bedrock. Now if it's a Pacific Ocean impact, which we think it will be, it will create a tidal wave about three miles high, flash boil millions of gallons of sea water. It will hit the West Coast and wash up in Denver. Japan is gone, Australia is wiped out. Half of the Earth's population will be incinerated by the heat blast, the rest will freeze to death in a nuclear winter."

"That's unbelievable," she heard her sister whisper.

"Actually, this is as real as it gets,” Truman said to the youngest person in the room. “It's coming, right now. Right for us at twenty-two thousand miles an hour and none of us can hide from it."

"I'm goin' out on a limb that you aren't telling everyone like this." Harry looked at Truman.

The executive director nodded. "Nobody knows and that's how we'll keep it."

"What about the meteor shower a few days ago?" Faith asked him. She heard the news while they were on the ship.

"Right now it's an isolated incident,” Truman told them.

Faith understood that. "Anything more would cause a panic."

"There are only nine telescopes that can see it, eight of them are ours,” Truman said. “The president has classified this information as Top Secret."

Truman explained the kind of worldwide break down they would have if everyone knew that the world was gonna end in a little over seventeen days.

"There are six billion people on this planet, why did you call me?" her father asked.

"Because, you're the best.” Truman looked at Harry, then her and Grace. “Come on, there’s something I wanna show you."

Grace grabbed her hand as they all filed out of the room and walked through the building. Looking around, Faith took a millisecond to geek out because, despite the circumstances, she is a mechanical engineer who was walking through NASA. It was like being a little kid in a candy store.

* * *

"We need you to prep the team we're sending up."

Harry looked at Truman, "Up?"

"They'll go up, drill, drop the nukes, leave, then detonate,” Truman said, motioning to a group on the far side of the room.

“Is that…?” Grace asked, tugging on Faith’s hand. She nodded at her sister’s question as she too in the sight before her. It was her rig. Faith and Harry designed it a few years ago. It started as project when they weren't working and grew from there.

"This is the prototype we've been working on for Mars, you might recognize the design,” Doctor Quincy said.

"We should, it's ours. What did you do, steal a key to the patent's office?" Harry asked the scientist.

"Basically," Truman told them.

Faith couldn't hold her tongue. "Are you shittin' me?” Everyone looked at her. “We got pulled off our rig and dragged halfway around the world because you stole our design and fucked it up?"

"Patents don't apply to outer space…" Quincy started.”

"Shut up, doc. It's not going to Mars anymore, it's gonna try to save this planet and we need to know what's wrong with it pretty quick,” Truman said, “You said we did a bad job of putting it together…"

Harry cut the man off, "No, she said you 'fucked it up.' For starters, you guys have the flow system all reversed."

Faith looked at Quincy. "Been tearing up rotors and you have no idea why?"

"Yeah, actually," the man said with a nod.

"Cams are all wrong, doc." There were actually a few things wrong. Fixable but still wrong.

"Who's been operating this thing?" her father asked Truman. “Them?” Harry looked at the group that Truman motioned to when they first walked into the room. Faith rolled her eyes at the Boy Scouts.

"They've been training for eight months," Quincy told them.

Faith let out a laugh. "On a drill that doesn't work. That they couldn't fix. I hate to be the devil's advocate but they just wasted eight months."

Harry nodded before he and Truman walked away from the group of NASA and Air Force personnel. Faith watched the two men and she just knew.

“What do you think?” Grace asked as they watched the two men.

"He's gonna do it,” Faith muttered. “He’s gonna do it.”

Quincy looked at them. "How do you know?"

"We know our dad."

After a few minutes of talking, and some yelling on Harry’s side, he and Truman came back. The look in both of their eyes told a story. Harry’s were full of determination and Truman’s were full of relief.

“So,” Faith said, “when do we start?"

Harry chuckled. "About an hour ago."


	2. Fate is Such a Bitch

Faith sped through the medical and psychological examinations while her dad and Grace told Truman were to find their team. The medical team was beyond efficient and the whole thing was mostly painless, she was actually more relieved that Rock and Oscar weren't anywhere near her to see the damn hospital gown since it hid nothing.

After acing the medical and squeaking by on the mental exams, she got started on evaluating just how much work she would need to do on the drill. There were plenty of problems with the one Truman showed them, and there was another one that also had to be fixed. Faith was also tasked with coming up with a mount to attach the drills to the armadillos; Truman’s word, not hers. If You asked Faith, they were more like ridiculously high-tech monster trucks.

"Looks promising.” Grace's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. The younger Stamper sat down next to Faith on the hanger floor. “How far did you get?”

Faith smiled at her sister. "I did good. Truman has a list of everything we'll need and I drew up the plans. I'll be working on the rig tomorrow when the guys are in medical. Any of them here yet?"

“Nope,” Grace said, shaking her head. "Oscar and A.J. should be here in a few minutes. Rock, Bear, Max and Freddy will be here in an hour and Chick in two. I don’t envy Harry.”

“Neither do I.”

How do you tell your friends that the world was going to end unless they stopped it? She honestly didn’t know and she was glad that she wasn’t the one who had to tell them. Faith did know that her father wanted to wait until they were all together before he even broached the subject, which meant she should probably stay where she was for the next two hours because she can’t lie to Freddy or Bear to save her life.

* * *

“New look, Faith?” Freddy asked as soon as she walked into the room.

“You mean, this old thing?” She tugged the front of her NASA issued jumpsuit. “I stole it,” she said before she smiled sweetly and kissed his cheek.

“Has your name on it,” A.J. pointed out.

“So, that’s what that is.” Faith let out a chuckle and sat down next to her best friend, who gave her a look. “You don’t wanna know, Fred. Trust me.”

That’s when her father walked into the room and got down to business. Harry pulled up the newest images and projections of Dottie for the whole team to see.

“What is that?” Chick asked.

“An asteroid,” Rock answered, dumbfounded. “That thing is massive.”

“Size of Texas is how the guys around here describe it,” Faith told them. “It’s the reason they brought us here.”

Harry nodded before explaining everything to their team; the details about the asteroid, the plan to stop it and what they were being asked to do. Then, he wisely paused to let it all sink in.

"None of you have to go. We can all just sit here on Earth, wait for this big rock to crash into it, kill everything and everybody we know. The United States government just asked us to save the world. Anybody wanna say no?" Harry stood before his men.

Unsurprisingly, Chick spoke up first. "Twenty years. Haven't turned you down once. Not about to start now. I'm there."

"Guess I can't let you go up there alone," Freddy told them after he looked around the room.

"I'm with you,” Bear said, keeping it simple.

Oscar was practically bouncing in his seat. "Man, this is… this is historic. Guys, this is… like, deep blue hero shit! Of course, I'm in."

"While I don't share _his_ enthusiasm, you know me,” Rockhound said. “Beam me up, Scotty!"

"You alright, Max?" Harry asked the usually happy man.

Max's head was resting on the table. "I… I don't, I… I don't...” He looked up at her dad. “Whatever you think." That was a yes.

Harry looked at AJ. "How about you?"

Her sister's boyfriend looked up her father. "I'm in." He glanced over at her and she knew that they were thinking the same thing, for Grace. “I’m in.”

For the first time since they got there, the reality of the situation hit Faith. They were going into space to stop a giant rock from obliterating their planet. Billions of lives hinged on what they were being asked to do.

"All right then. We go, " Harry said to the room.

"I don't mean to be the materialistic weasel of this bunch, but do you think we'll get hazard pay out of this?" Faith couldn't help herself, she laughed. It started a chain reaction through the guys. Leave it to Rock to cut the tension.

"I bet if you make a list they'll let you have anything you want," Faith told the lady’s man. She pulled a pen out of her pocket and grabbed a notepad off the table behind her. “Kimsey’ll hate it but I doubt Truman would mind.”

She watched as they all started talking among themselves, adding things to the list

“What about you?” Freddy asked with a nudge. "You want anything?"

"What I want can't be promised to me by NASA,” she said with a shake of her head.

* * *

Considering how hard the psych eval was for her, Faith was actually surprised that the guys were cleared for the mission. She knew that NASA needed them so bad that they weren’t going to worry about small things like their mental and physical stability but it was still surprising to see them all strut into the hanger like they owned the damn thing.

Since there was actual training that they had to do before they actually strapped into a shuttle, the whole group was going to have some Astronaut 101-type class. Sitting at one of the tables between Chick and Freddy, she was not expecting the pair of piercing blue eyes that were sizing them all up.

What the hell? Where have they been hiding him and why? He wasn’t remotely her type with that whole all-American, clean cut, boy scout vibe but she didn’t care. She didn’t care one bit.

"Good morning, I'm Colonel Willie Sharp,” their very attractive instructor said. “In addition to flying one of the X-71 teams to that rock, my job is to train you how to deal with the mental and physical riggers of working in space so you don't freak out on the asteroid. United States astronauts train for years. You have twelve days. Do we have any intelligent questions before we get started?"

Chick raised his hand, Sharp gave him a nod. "What's an X-71?"

"It's a shuttle,” Faith answered, “two of them actually. Brand new, high tech and all kinds of classified. I got to see one last night. Truman said you guys will get to see 'em later before they get sent to Florida for launch prep."

"That's where you're heading after this class." Sharp looked at her for a second before he flipped open a book and they got started.

* * *

When class wrapped up and they got a quick lunch, the guys went to see the X-71s and Faith went to the hanger where they were gonna work on the armadillos. She didn't even realize that the guys showed up until Truman started talking.

"Here at downtown NASA, we call these the monster armadillos. They can go up to eight hundred turbohorses in zero gravity."

"What the hell are they doing to them?" she heard someone ask.

Faith jumped down from one of the lower catwalks, where she had been working. "They’re stripping unnecessary bullshit and prepping for the mount to be welded on. I got a list of stuff for ya, boys. We don't have a ton of time, so let's go."

As expected, Chick reached for her clipboard and started issuing out assignments. Despite what people may have assumed, they didn't need to be told twice.

"Faith,” Truman said. “Come meet the flight team.”

“I guess,” she said, glancing at her dad, who followed Chick.

“You already met Sharp,” Truman said. “This is Colonel Davis. Pilots Watts and Tucker. Munitions Specialists Gruber and Halsey. Guys, this is Faith Stamper.”

“I’d love to stay and chat but I got about a million things to do if we’re planning on getting this sorted in time, so if you'll excuse me,” Faith said before she stepped away without waiting for a response.

“They've been giving us the evil eye since we got here," Chick stage whispered.

“That sounds like a personal problem,” she said, giving her dad’s best friend a nudge.

"Too bad none of us can pull that off without looking like assholes." Freddy chuckled.

Rockhound laughed. "That's because she's…"

" _Rock._ " They all looked at Harry.

The man put his hands up in surrender. "What? I was gonna say brilliant and badass."

They all knew better but, fortunately for him, nobody called him out on it.

* * *

“Why are you sitting alone?” Grace asked as she sat next to Faith in the cafeteria.

“Needed a moment,” she told her sister. “Easier to think that way.”

“What are you thinking about?

Faith smiled. "About life and how it could all end if we fail."

“You're too much like Harry to fail." They both laughed at that, Grace had a point.

"These seats taken?" The sisters looked up as Tucker stood in front of them, Watts, Davis and Sharp not far behind him.

"Not at all,” Grace said before Faith could stop her.

The pilots sat down, offering civil greetings as they did. Faith watched them for a minute, maybe two were Sharp was concerned, before she went back to the plans in front of her.

“What are you working on?" Tucker asked.

“The cluster fuck that NASA made outta my rig,” she said without looking up.

Grace whacked her on the arm. "Excuse my sister, tact is not her strongest trait."

“I can be tactful.” She cleared her throat. “They reconfigured the rig to operate on Mars. Problem is that math and physics are universal, doesn’t matter where you are. In their attempt to make it better, they made it worse. And now I have to fix it if we’re gonna us it to save the planet,” Faith said, earning small smiles from Sharp and Watts.

“You know, NASA has some of the best engineers in the world,” Tucker told her.

“They are. Doesn’t mean they didn’t mess this up. They’ve been training that team for eight months and nobody thought to contact me and Harry when they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. And I am an engineer.” The looks on their faces told Faith that they didn't know, "Let me guess, Kimsey didn't tell you?"

“Kimsey doesn’t tell anyone much,” Sharp said.

“That does not surprise me, Colonel,” Faith said. “Let’s see. Oscar is a Geologist, went to Sam Houston. Rock has double doctorates in Chemistry and Geology from MIT. Noonan has a Masters in Math from UIC in Chicago. I have a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from TAMU. Chick was in the Air Force.”

“I think that’s it but I’d have to look,” Grace said with a nod.

“We're a much smarter bunch than the General would have everyone believe," Faith added.

Kimsey hates them and he's not even shy about showing it. She swears if that man glares at her one more time she was gonna hit him. It's not their fault that the world was gonna end and it's not their fault that NASA couldn't fix it without them. He's just wasting his energy being pissed at them.

Grace smiled. "Though it may look like it, we aren't idiots. Our job is dangerous and if one person drops the ball, we could all get ourselves killed. That's every day. It's not as simple as flipping the switch on a drill or more people would do it. These guys aren't the best because they work for Harry, they work for Harry because they're the best, there's a difference."

"Sorry. I guess I didn't even think about it." Tucker told them.

"It's because my team’s obnoxious,” Faith said with a shrug.

“HEY!" the guys all yelled in unison.

“Shouldn’t eavesdropping, guys,” Grace said, shaking her head. Their guys all turned back to their own tables and conversations.

Faith sighed as she got up. "They're loud and crazy but they're also some of the best people you'll ever meet. Wouldn't be here otherwise."

* * *

"Can I ask you a personal question, Miss Stamper?"

Faith practically jumped out her skin, she was working on the drill and didn't hear Sharp come in.

"That was a question, Colonel. And for the millionth time, it's Faith." He gave her a humorless look. She sighed, "Go ahead."

"Why oil drilling?" he asked.

She smiled. "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life. That and it's the family business, me and Gracie are fourth generation."

"Do you ever wish you picked something else?" Sharp asked,

“Like what? Some office job? Work nine to five? Not really. I love what I do. Do you ever wish you weren't a pilot?" Faith asked.

"Once, right before I got divorced."

"Wife didn't like being a mistress to the Air Force?”

"She was tired of the life, wanted me to quit."

Faith could understand that. She's met her fair share of guys who looked at her like she was crazy when she told them her profession.

"I’ve had that conversation before,” she told him.

“I’m sure you have. Can’t imagine a lot of men being okay with their girlfriend spending months on end with a bunch of guys.”

“Funny thing about that,” Faith said with a smirk, “those guys are just family. I was raised by half of them."

"Really?" Sharp asked with a chuckled.

“Yeah. I mean, Chick and Rock have been friends with dad since I was like five. I don't remember a time where they weren't around, Bear and Max too. Freddy's my best friend and Oscar and AJ are like my little brothers. I got some other friends on the rig but still." She took a breath. "You think it's too much to hope that we'll all come home in one piece?"

"I don't think it's too much. That's the point, right? Hope that we’ll protect everyone we care about."

Faith smiled, he had a look on his face that she saw on her dad all the time. "How many and how old?"

Sharp offered her a real smile, the first on she’s seen since they met. "Clare is eight and Ella is six. They don't know about this..." He paused for a moment. "I didn't mean to get this personal or bother you, I was just curious."

"You aren't bothering me. I'm a master at multitasking."

"I can see that,” he said with a smile. She kept working on the flow system the whole time he was there. “Don't stay up too late, underwater simulations start tomorrow. Trust me, you’re gonna want your rest."

She nodded. "Thanks for the heads up."

"You're welcome. Good night, Miss Stamper."

"'Night, Colonel. And it's Faith." He nodded and she watched as he left the room. “Fate is such a bitch.”

* * *

"Monkey, wake up."

She blinked her eyes open. "I hate you so much, Chick."

He laughed. "You couldn't hate me if you tried." That was true.

She looked at him for a second before she slowly sat up and looked over at the empty bed. "If Grace is with AJ, is Oscar in there too?"

“No.” Chick shook his head. "He's rooming with Rock."

"That's just asking for trouble."

"True, but the only other option was to put him with you and I'm sure you'd kill him. Go get dressed; they said something about a pool."

Faith nodded. "Underwater sims. Supposed to mimic zero gravity."

She pushed herself up, took a quick shower and met the guys in the cafeteria. Tucker was explaining to them how it all worked. They were gonna be in suits with a mock-up of the armadillos and drills, using the computers, they were gonna practice.

Faith could admit to being a little nervous as they walked to the pool. She didn’t mind water or anything like that but something about this whole thing made her uneasy. Didn’t help that the pilots were going with them. Maybe the flight teams wanted to see what they'd be dealing with on the asteroid or something like that; no pressure.

"You guys got any advice?" she asked quietly, half-hoping that nobody heard her.

"Breathe,” Sharp said from behind her. “Your first instinct in the water is gonna be to panic but you're wearing a suit that designed to keep you alive in a no oxygen environment. If you panic you use up all your air. So, breathe normally."

Faith looked over her shoulder at the officer. "I will try to do that. Thank you."

He nodded. "You're welcome."

“What’s the deal with that?” Freddy whispered just as they walked into the room.

“What?” she asked.

“You know what.” He glanced at Sharp and then back at her. "What's the deal with that?"

Before she could answer, Chick looked at them. "What's up, monkey?"

"Nothing that I know of.” She shrugged.

"Uh huh,” Freddy muttered.

"Monkey?" They were standing by the pool when Tucker looked at her.

"I used to climb on stuff. Still do if the situation calls for someone who isn't afraid of heights.”

"She used to scare the shit out of me,” Harry said. “I'm just glad Grace stayed on the ground."

Faith looked at AJ; he has a stupid grin on his face. She really doesn't want to know. Luckily, she didn't get a chance to think about it too hard since the NASA people got started.

"Lady and Gentlemen, welcome to our Weightless Environment Training Facility."


	3. A Very Healthy Respect for Gravity

"You're about the saddest bunch I have ever seen. Your space flight is gonna be a brutal assault on your senses, I'm here to give you a taste of that. NASA has some of the best pilots in the world. They're gonna be sucking your eyes into the back of your heads. They're gonna twist ya. And they're gonna flip ya. We're gonna wrap your bodies until your bones hurt. When you squeal, we're just gonna go faster and harder."

Faith swallowed before looking over at her dad, who was already turning green.

She doesn't know whose bright idea it was to put flight training after weightless training but she owed them a piece of her mind and the tip of her boot. Yes, there was a lot for them to learn, especially how to keep their shit together going at Mach speeds, but this was just reckless. Half the team was already out of sorts from spending hours in the water, now Chuck, the guy in charge of their flight endurance training, just scared the shit out of them.

"Stamper," Chuck called in their direction.

"Yeah?" Faith and Harry replied on instinct. Apparently, one of them was flying with Chuck and if she was being honest, Faith was scared shitless that it was her.

Chuck looked at them as Watts chuckled. "They're father and daughter. Harry, you're with Chuck. Faith, you're with Sharp."

"Thanks," Faith said, breathing a sigh of relief as she looked around the room for the colonel. When she spotted the pilot, she grabbed her gear and followed him onto the tarmac.

"Nervous, Miss Stamper?" Sharp asked her.

"Terrified. I have a very healthy respect for gravity."

"I won't let anything happen to you but I won't go easy on you either."

Faith nodded. "Fair enough."

He told her to put on her helmet before giving her a quick rundown and instructing her to climb up the ladder. She paid attention during the safety brief, so she knew not to do anything unless he told her to.

"You'll be fine. I'm pretty sure that I know what I'm doing," he said with a smile. Who is this person and what did he do with the real Colonel Sharp?

"You have a sense of humor. Here, I was beginning to think that you weren't a real boy," she muttered.

"Come on," Sharp said, "you can do better than a Pinnocio reference."

"Only if I wanna hurt your feelings," Faith told him as he helped her strap in, Faith watching the way his hands moved.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. You know… nerves." Faith wasn't entirely sure that that was it but she wasn't going to tell him that. Sharp checked her one more time before getting into his own seat and strapping in.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

"You have to breathe, Faith. It'll be a really short trip if you pass out on me."

"Now you use my first name?" She'd been trying to get everyone to stop calling her Miss Stamper to mixed results. "I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask."

* * *

"Whoa. This is…" It was like nothing she's ever seen before. And the feeling; it was like striking oil.

"Yea, it gets me every time."

"Did you always wanna be a pilot?" she asked.

"Since I was a kid. My dad was a Naval Aviator," he told her.

"So, following your old man's footsteps. Wonder where I heard that before," Faith said. "Maybe my team and your team are more similar than we all like to admit."

"I wouldn't go that far," Sharp said. "Much as I love it, I started flying to outdo my dad. He was an asshole."

"And as much as I love him, I started drilling to prove to my dad that I could. To show him that I wasn't a little girl anymore and that I was more than capable."

"Now, the fate of the world rests in your hands."

"And yours. See, similar."

"I'll give you that one. I'll also give you a warning," he said. "This is where I get to have some fun. Remember to breathe."

The next thing she knew, he pulled them into some maneuvers. Twists, turns, barrel rolls, spirals, spins, flips; you name it. Faith felt like she got tossed into that Gravitron ride at the carnival that spins you into the wall really fast, only this was a thousand times faster, and probably a thousand times safer. Despite the speed and maneuvers, she was actually starting to relax.

"Thought you weren't gonna go easy on me," she teased.

"I'm not," he said with a chuckled. "Maybe you're not as afraid to fly as you thought."

"I never said I was afraid," she pointed out. "I just like to keep my boots on the deck."

"Does that mean I shouldn't show you one of my favorite maneuvers?" Sharp asked. "I mean, it's not as intense as the other stuff, just really cool." She could hear the smile in his voice, Sharp was in his element and it sounded good on him.

"I'm game." She smiled, though he couldn't see it. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he took them into an inside loop, then corkscrewed into a spiral that went straight up. Then he leveled them out, upside down. "Okay, that is cool."

She doesn't know how long they were like that, couldn't have been more than a minute or two, when Sharp flipped the aircraft upright.

"They're calling us back," he told her.

"Just when it was getting good."

Sharp laughed. "Hey, I pulled out some of my best tricks. I'm surprised you didn't blow chunks. Bet you twenty that your guys did."

"I'm not taking that. Rock and Max did for sure, maybe dad. AJ and Freddy can go either way depending on the day." It wasn't anything against them, she just knows them all too well. Rock only flies when he has to, same with Max. Her dad is usually fifty-fifty.

"Some of the pilots bet against you," Sharp said. "Tucker didn't. Think he might be a little smitten."

"What about you?" she asked him before realizing just how it sounded. "Did you bet against me, I mean?"

"Wouldn't be fair if I did since you're in my plane. I bet against Harry," he said. Faith doesn't know why but that made her smile.

Sharp got them back and on the ground in no time flat. She was actually sad that it was over. After getting unstrapped, Faith climbed down the ladder after Sharp did. She was wobbly when her feet hit the ground.

"Steady."

She took a couple deep breaths. "I'm good. I'm good."

He took her helmet off her head put a hand on her shoulder. "Deep breaths." Faith nodded and did what he told her to do. "You good?"

Faith took a deep breath and stood up straight. "I'm good."

Sharp chuckled as he removed his hand. "You said that already, Miss Stamper."

"This time I mean it," she said, looking up at him.

"Yes, ma'am," Sharp said with a nod and a smile.

"So," Faith said as they started to walk, "we're back to Miss Stamper and ma'am, huh?"

"It's just habit. I'll call you Faith if it makes you feel better."

"Considering that we all might die, it does actually make me feel better."

"Okay, Faith."

"That sounded painful." She chuckled. "God. You know, I don't bite. Do we need to get back in the plane for you to be comfortable around me?"

"Maybe." He smiled at her and she could swear his eyes sparkled. "You were right about your guys."

Faith looked around; Max was leaning between Tucker and Davis. AJ was sitting with his head in his hands, Grace was rubbing his neck. Bear looked like years had been taken off his life. Freddy, Chick and Oscar looked okay but she didn't even see Rockhound.

"My dad is green," she muttered.

Sharp looked in Harry's direction. "I didn't know a human being could turn that color."

Faith chuckled. "Oh my God, you got jokes too?"

"Just a few," he told her as they walked into the hanger. A bunch of the pilots looked in their direction, waiting. "Tucker won your bet. She's not even nauseous."

"YEAH! Told you," the Independence pilot called.

Faith shook her head and looked at him. "Does this mean you're buying the drinks when we get back?"

"Definitely." Tucker tossed an arm over her shoulder. "We'll have a team Independence party."

"We can't exclude the others, Tucker," she told him in her most parental voice.

"You sound like my mom."

"Habit." With that, she slipped from under his arm and walked over to their resident skirt chaser. "You alright, Rock?" He shook his head. Faith wrapped her arms around him and he rested his head on her shoulder. "Don't puke on me and watch where you put your hands, I don't want to have to hurt you." She expected him to chuckle but he just nodded and closed his eyes.

"Rock's not groping Faith… it's a miracle," Freddy quipped from behind her.

The others laughed and Chick looked at her. "Never thought I'd see the day that he was too wreaked to notice that his face was near her chest." Faith didn't mind, she likes Rock when he's not flirting with her.

"I don't know about you but I'm gonna go get chow," Chuck said as he walked through the hanger.

Faith knew Rock was gonna lose it a second before he did. Davis handed Rock the trash can and she jumped back just in time to get out of the way.

Rock looked up at her. "That was mean."

"Yea it was," she agreed. That guy might be good at his job but he was an ass. Before she could give voice to that thought, Truman walked into the room with some of the medical staff. Everyone who was sick got checked over and everyone else was let go for the rest of the night.

"Hey," Freddy said as they made their way back to the main building, "I think I'm gonna take a shower and crush. What about you?"

"Don't know. Might work on the rig some. I'm almost done," she told him.

"You need some help?" Oscar asked her.

"No, I got it." Faith shrugged.

The blonde laughed. "I think you just want to take all the credit for yourself."

"You know," Freddy said, "when we're all heroes, I'm gonna thank Faith for all she's done for me. Best sidekick ever."

She looked at him. "Sidekick my ass, I'm a super hero. Besides, it's my rig. I didn't see you designing it."

"I don't see you asking for help either," Oscar pointed out.

"Every good hero runs solo at some point," Faith reminded him. For most of the walk, the guys tossed around heroes. Who would be who. Who would have which powers.

"What about Faith?" Oscar asked. "Who would she be?"

"Easy. I'm Iron Man," she declared, earning laughs all around. "What's so funny?"

"You, Iron Man?" Freddy asked. "How do you figure?"

She was gonna answer them but Sharp beat her to it. "Tony Stark is a brilliant engineer who builds equipment that saves the world and is in charge of his father's company. Nice choice."

"How the hell do you know that, Colonel?" Freddy asked him.

"You aren't the only ones who grew up on comic books," Sharp said plainly.

"Oh, you're giving them too much credit, Sharp." She chuckled. "They haven't grown up yet."

* * *

"Somebody's hooked." She smiled as Sharp sat next to her. Faith took a shower and decided to watch as some of the pilots were doing their evening flight training.

"I had fun. So, did you, I could hear it in your voice," she said.

He nodded. "I wouldn't be one of the best pilots in the world if I didn't like it. You know, you aren't actually supposed to be out here."

"Really?" Faith asked. She didn't see any signs and nobody stopped her.

"Not without an escort. Luckily for you, I spotted you before the MPs did."

Faith chuckled. "Spotted me or came looking for me?"

"Maybe a bit of both, I guess." Sharp let out a breath. "Don't ask me why."

"Okay." Faith smiled and turned her attention back to the planes.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while before he looked at her.

"If there was one thing you could do before the world ends, what would it be?"

"I'd ask my mom why she abandoned us," she said, surprised by her own answer. She doesn't usually talk about her mother, none of them did. "I get that her relationship with my dad had problems, I was there, but she just left us. Grace didn't deserve that."

Sharp nodded. "Neither did you."

"How would you know that?" Faith asked. "I mean, you don't know me that well, maybe I'm a huge bitch."

"You couldn't pay me to believe that. The way you interact with your team and your sister… Your dad. You look out for all of them," he said quietly and Faith could admit that he had a point. She spent half her time making sure that they were all okay, even if she wasn't. "You love them and they all love you back. From where I'm sitting, your mother is an idiot."

Faith felt like her heart was gonna beat out of her chest at the look he gave her. "So is your ex-wife."

"Na, not an idiot," Sharp said. "She ah… she didn't realize what she signed up for and I… I didn't understand how she felt. There was enough blame to go around, trust me."

"What about your daughters?"

"I get to see them when I'm not working. My ex got remarried but they don't live too far from here. Ella's just starting to fully understand but Clare gets it. She wants to be a pilot when she grows up… if she gets a chance to grow up."

Faith reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You'll make sure she does. We all will."

"I guess we will," he said, reaching up to give her hand a squeeze. "I just gotta have faith. No pun intended."

"Uh huh." She laughed. "I must've heard that like a million times."

"Wouldn't surprise me," he said, his thumb caressing her knuckle. "Not with your bunch."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

He looked at her. "They're fun. I've been paying attention and when you guys aren't up to your eyeballs in training or working on the 'dillos, you guys have fun."

"We try. What does the world's best pilot do for fun? And please don't say 'fly'." The smirk on his face told her that was exactly what he was thinking.

"I'm normal. I love spending time with my kids and watching movies and football."

She smiled. "That sounds like fun times to me."

"Come on, it's getting dark and I really don't want to get shot."

"They wouldn't. Would they?"

"No… but the look on your face was priceless." Sharp laughed, his hand still tightly clasped around hers. She could almost feel his amusement with every heartbeat. She gave him a little push but he caught her hand against his chest. She could feel his heart beating, it was going a thousand miles an hour. Faith looked up and those intense blue eyes drove all coherent thought from her mind. Instead of pushing her away, Sharp pulled her closer. "Tell me to back off."

"Not my style," she muttered before went for it and kissed him. Sharp shocked the hell out of Faith when he kissed her back, his arm wrapping around her waist and his lips parting.

It only lasted a few seconds but the taste of him, coffee and Will, was gonna be seared into her brain for the rest of her life. "We should head back."

Faith nodded. "Yea."

* * *

She couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for an hour and a half, she decided to do some work. The rig was almost done and Faith figured that she as long as she was awake, she might as well finish it. Faith didn't even need to think about what she was doing, she was on autopilot. Ha… autopilot.

That errant thought brought a whole bunch of other thoughts with it. Why did it have to be here? And why now? Why him? Yes, a lot of people dig the whole 'men in uniform' thing but she wasn't one of them. Why did she have to like him? Why couldn't it be Freddy or Oscar or something? It would be easier to wrap her head around. But nope, she likes Sharp. More than likes him, if she's being honest with herself. Nothing she could really do about it either way, they have a planet to save.

"What are you doing up?" her dad asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Couldn't sleep. What are you doing up?"

Harry chuckled as he handed her the wrench she was about to grab. "Thinkin'. Can I ask you something?" She nodded. "What's your take on Grace and AJ?"

"I think," she said, "that love comes from all over the place. If you find it then you find it. Grace is young in age but she's more mature than any other nineteen-year-old you'll meet. A.J. is, well… he's sorta like you. You know, hardheaded and stubborn as hell but he loves her. She's the only reason he agreed to this. I mean, there are six billion people on this planet and he's fighting for one, Grace." The look Harry gave her told Faith that he didn't know. "Dad." He looked at her. "Grace is an adult who grew up surrounded by a bunch of guys who taught her to stand up for herself and go for what she wants out of life. She loves A.J. We all do. If you keep pushing, he'll leave and she'll go with him. Don't let your pride… I can't watch another member of our family walk away."

"Ah, Faith." He pulled her into a hug. She was sure that her father didn't think about what would happen if Grace left with A.J.

"Just let them be, dad. You should see them together, it's the sweetest thing in the world."

He chuckled. "You really think it's alright?"

"I would've pulled the shotgun on him myself if I didn't."

"I'll try to keep an open mind but I'm not making any promises."

"That'll do. Now, since we're both up, you wanna help me finish this?"

* * *

She fixed it. She knew she would but she thought it would take a few more days. Oscar decided to bust her chops a little. "Is that a smile on Faith's face?"

Everyone looked at her as she sat at the table. "The rig is finished. All other efforts have been noted and you're welcome." She gave earned chuckles from the guys, she even saw Sharp try to hide his smile.

"Is that what you and Harry were doing last night?" her best buddy asked.

She nodded at him. "Yep. Had some stuff on my mind. You probably shouldn't eat that?"

Freddy looked at her. "Why?"

"Because you guys are hitting the treadmills today," Watts said. "Medical needs to get a baseline on you for when you're stressed out and working hard."

"They're gonna hook you up to monitors while you run," Sharp told them. "I'm not gonna lie, it _sucks_."

"That's scarier than yesterday," Oscar said.

"That's because working out for you consists of shoving doughnuts in your mouth," she teased.

"We'll remember you said that, monkey," Chick said.

"You can, if you want. It's the truth." Faith shrugged. "You guys are gonna watch the torture, aren't you?"

The flight teams smiled and Watts nodded. "Of course, we will."


	4. What Am I Doing?

Faith's whole body hurt. Between her lack of sleep, the torture on the treadmills and working on the 'dillos, she was exhausted and sore. The shower she just took helped but she needed sleep. Of course, there was a knock on the door.

"What?" she snapped.

“Testy, are we?” A.J. asked with a laugh. “I need to talk to you." She looked at him. No good ever comes out of a conversation that starts with that sentence.

"Come on in," Faith said, moving away from the door. He sat on the empty bed and looked at her as Faith sat on her own bed. "Well?"

"I want to propose to Grace. I've had the ring for a month but I… I want to do it sooner rather than later."

"You ask dad?"

"I prefer not to get shot at again,” he said. “What do you think?"

"How long have we known each other, Frosty?"

He chuckled. "Almost all our lives."

"At least,” she said. “I love you like a brother, always have. As long as she's happy, I’m happy. I don’t know if it means much but you have my blessing to ask her."

He jumped up and pulled her into a hug. "You're the best, you know that, right?"

"Yes, I do know that. Now, go away, I'm sleepy."

"I love you too, Faith," A.J. said, pressing a kiss to her temple and bounding out of the room.

Harry is gonna flip the hell out. Faith didn't want to start drama but she knew he'd say no just on principle and the last thing they needed was A.J. trying to prove himself worthy on this mission.

Faith didn't think about it too much, she was too tired. She climbed into bed and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Neil Armstrong, 1969, bouncing on the moon. He's bouncing because there's less gravity up there than on Earth. This will be similar to the asteroid. So, watch it. Something gets launched off that asteroid with enough force, it's gonna keep on going, right into outer space."

Watts was teaching them how to use the suits that they'd be wearing on the asteroid. Faith was giddy. It's not every day you get to wear next generation spacesuits. Of course, Rockhound Junior –Oscar- wasn't paying attention.

"What is the deal? Is it just me, or is Watts really hot?" the blonde whispered to Bear.

"Yeah," their big friend agreed. Faith rolled her eyes as they continued to chat and turned her attention back to the other woman going on this trip.

"So, we have these new generation suits with directional accelerant thrusters. You won't bounce like Neil Armstrong. Bear!" Watts yelled.

His head snapped to look at her. "Yes?"

"Do we have a problem?" the female pilot asked.

Papa Bear was in trouble now. "No."

Watts stepped closer to him. "'Cause I'm trying to describe to you how these D.A.T.s keep your ass on the ground, so that if I were to kick you in the balls, and you don't know how to work them, what happens to you?"

"I'd float away," he told her. Faith was doing her damnedest not to laugh but it wasn't easy to see her mountain of a friend getting called out by this tiny woman. Watts was Faith's new hero for sure.

The pilot looked at Bear. "Yeah."

"When do we start training for _that_?"

"Seriously, Rock?" Faith asked, rolling her eyes. He shrugged.

Watts sent him a glare before she resumed her lesson. "Faith, gentlemen, I'll give you thirty seconds to put your helmets on before the oxygen is sucked from this room and you'll know what it's like to be in space."

Faith quickly donned her helmet before looking around. The guys didn't seem to have a problem with this task.

"Well, hello zero gravity," Max muttered. She chuckled at his statement as the feeling of weightlessness washed over her. Faith bounced around for a minute like the guys did before she got to work using her DAT to put herself upright and on the ground.

"Faith figured it out," Harry told the others.

"It's not like Watts didn't just explain it. Unlike some people, I was paying attention." She looked at Oscar when she said it.

"Not apologizing. She's hot,” her friend said.

"She can hear you," came Tucker's voice over the intercom.

"I don't think you wanna mess with Watts,” Faith warned. “She might hurt you."

Chick laughed as he landed next to her. "Might? That woman would break him like a toothpick. He can't handle none of that."

"What a way to go, though," Rock said to them.

Faith rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna pretend I can't hear you."

"Oh, please.” Rock chuckled. “You telling us that you ain’t looking?"

She felt herself blush and was grateful for the helmet that mostly hid her face. Faith took a breath. "Not at all, I just don't talk about it. And you don’t want me to talk about it. So, stop talking about Watts. I'm not helping you if she decides to kick your asses. Hell, all the crap I put up with from ya'll, I'd probably help her."

"She makes a good point,” Chick said. “Now, let's get to work."

One by one, they landed on the ground and used the suits to keep themselves there. They walked around and even floated a little before using the DATs to land. They'd been in there for a few hours when Watts warned them that they were opening the door. Everyone was solidly on the ground when the oxygen came back.

"You did better than we thought. No offense," Davis said as the door opened.

Harry chuckled. "None taken, Colonel Davis."

* * *

"The doctors don’t like it when we skip meals,” came an increasingly familiar voice from behind her.

After D.A.T. training, they were sent off to get chow. Faith decided that her time was better spent working on the armadillos. She was sitting on the catwalk above doing some last-minute calculations when Sharp joined her.

“Please tell me you didn’t come up here just to tell me that,” she said as he sat down next to her.

“Maybe I just needed an excuse to see you. It's not like I can ask you out. I would if they didn't have us all trapped in here."

“Really?” Faith asked. “What would that look like?”

“You think I’m gonna tell you? I'm gonna save it for when we get back."

"You're that confident that I'd say yes?" She looked at him.

“I’m a confident person in general. But yes, I’m pretty sure you’ll say yes,” he said. “It’s the smile. Your smile gives you away.”

“Guilty as charged. Can't really blame me, though. I mean, you're all,” she said, motioning in his direction, “you know.” Attractive, intelligent and dedicated, which was cool as hell.

He scratched the back of his head. "Not really. I mean, except for the whole NASA thing, I’m probably the most normal person you’ll ever meet.”

“Doubt it. I’m Galveston, born and raised. Mostly.”

“Really?”

“Really. That’s where Stamper HQ is. What about you?”

“NAS Pax River. Navy base in Maryland.”

“Did you grow up there?”

“No. I don’t even remember it, we were stationed so many places.”

“Sounds familiar,” Faith said. “I mean, the rig’s in the South China Sea at the moment but I stopped keeping track of all the places it’s been. Guess it’s not important anymore.”

“I don’t know, I think the little things are always important. For instance, what’s your favorite movie?" he asked her.

“Of all the questions you could ask, you pick that one?”

“Yep. Don’t make me guess.”

"You're gonna laugh at me. 2001: A Space Odyssey. I know, I know," she said.

Just like she thought he would, Sharp laughed. "I never would've guessed. ' _I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that._ '"

She chuckled. " _'What's the problem?_ '"

Sharp looked at her. " _'I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do._ '"

" _'What are you talking about, HAL?_ '" She looked at Sharp.

" _'This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.'_ I'm so glad that we have control over our computers."

"Yea, too much at stake to have a HAL on our hands. Your turn,” Faith said.

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” he told her.

"Oh, that's a good one. I was expecting Top Gun or something."

"I hate Top Gun. Don't tell anyone I said that, I got a reputation to protect,” he whispered against her shoulder.

"Your secret is safe with me, Will."

"I know. I gotta go, flight sim."

Faith nodded. "So, that's what you guys do when you aren't with us."

"Practice makes perfect. See you later?"

"Only if you want to,” she said with a smile.

"Then I'll see you later.” Sharp smiled back before he gave her a quick kiss and left the way he came.

"Oh, I'm not telling dad about that one," another voice said from behind her.

Faith closed her eyes. "Grace."

"You guys are so adorable,” the younger Stamper said with a chuckle.

"I am not adorable. I’m… I don’t know what I am, right now," Faith groaned.

"You’re smitten. Like you must really like him because I can see it written all over your face,” Grace said before taking the spot that Sharp vacated “Looks to me like the feeling is mutual."

“What am I doing?”

“Taking care of yourself, for a change,” her sister said. “Faith, I've watched you take care of everybody but yourself. For once, don't worry about what anybody thinks and do what you want."

"Isn't that how your boyfriend ended up getting chased around the rig by Harry with a shotgun?"

"True but I bet if you asked A.J. he would tell you that it’s worth it. At least, I hope that’s what he’d say. Look, there’s not much we can do here; train and hang out. So, hang out with him like you’ve been doing. If it's something, you'll know and if it's not, you'll know that too. Worry about dad later."

"You really think this'll be okay?" Faith asked.

"I think that love comes from all over the place. If you find it then you find it."

Faith looked at her. "Dad told you what I said?"

"Yep.” Grace nodded. “He said you convinced him to have an open mind. Take some of your own advice. You're always making sure that I'm happy, you should give it a try."

"This isn't… I'm not actually sure what this is. Or how to go about it. I mean, what if I like... fall in love with him and one of us dies?"

"What if you fall in love with him and you both live? Figuring it out is the fun part. You taught me that. Come on, the guys are here and I doubt we want to talk about this in front of them." Grace was right about that. The two sisters made their way down the steps and got back to work.

* * *

 

"You guys have any plans for the rest of the night?" Faith, Grace, A.J., Freddy, Oscar, Rock, Bear and Max all shook their heads at Tucker’s question. He smirked. "Good, come with me." He led them through the building and into a conference room; Davis met them there.

"What's going on?" Grace asked quietly.

"Impromptu movie night," Tucker told them. Sharp, Watts and Halsey walked in from behind them with drinks and junk food. The guys started naming movies but Sharp shook his head and gave her a look. Faith knew what movie it was.

"2001: A Space Odyssey?"

"It was easy to track down around here,” Sharp told her. “I can't tell you how many people had a copy."

"Isn't that your favorite movie, Faith?" Freddy asked, nudging her arm. She knew what he was up to.

"Yea, Freddy. Mine and half of NASA's, it's a space movie," Faith said.

"It's my favorite too… this and Star Wars," Tucker told them.

She smiled. "Which one?"

"Return of the Jedi.” The Independence’s pilot smiled. “The best one.”

Oscar shook his head. "Empire Strikes Back."

“Are you crazy?” Max asked. “A New Hope.”

“Oh no. Here they go,” Grace said as Tucker, Oscar, Freddy and Max went into a conversation about Star Wars while the others got settled to watch the movie.

"Thanks for this," she whispered as she sat next to Sharp.

"You're welcome,” he said with a smile.

* * *

 

"So, how'd you pull that off?" she asked Sharp.

"Asked Truman," he said.

"Of course, you did,” Faith said. “I think we all needed the reprieve."

"Maybe I just needed a reason to sit next to you for a few hours without your dad looking over our shoulders."

"Ah, Harry… tries."

The crazy thing about all this was that Harry was finally given time to think about where they were as a family and apparently, he didn't like what he saw. Faith was more of an adult than he was and Grace deferred to her instead of him.

"After my mom left… I guess he didn't know what to do with girls. Didn't help that me and Grace are so… different. She's a girly girl and I'm just one of the guys."

"Impossible."

Faith chuckled, "What?"

"You… You're gorgeous. I have a hard time believing that you're just one of the guys when you aren't working."

"You think I'm gorgeous?"

"You are,” he said. “You're smart and you care about people, which only makes you more beautiful." Faith felt butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. It's not like she's never been in a relationship before but this was different. There was an edge to it, no doubt the ticking clock. She looked at her boots. "Don't do that. Don't hide." He put his hand on her chin forced her to look at him, "You're beautiful. It's almost unfair that you've been hiding on that rig for so long."

“Was that what I was doing?” Faith asked quietly even though there was a part of her that knew he was right. Faith had the chance to do other things but she picked the job she loved. He nodded. "I wish we met before this."

"Me too but here we are." Faith looked up and found herself staring into his eyes. Sharp stepped closer to her and pulled her into a kiss. Faith moved her hands into his hair, which was soft under her fingers.

There was a soft knock at her door. She sighed against his lips, "It's Grace." They stepped away from the door and Faith opened it. “You okay?"

“I’m good,” her sister said with a giggle. “Though I’ve interrupted something.”

“It’s okay,” Sharp said. “I should go. I know better than to get between sisters.” He pressed a gentle kiss against Faith’s lips. “Please do me a favor and get some rest.”

"I'll try. Goodnight, Will."

“’Night, ladies,” he said before leaving the room.

“Don't say anything,” Faith told Grace.

"But, _Faith_ … movie night. Come _on_ ,” her sister said with bright smile.  

She shook her head. "You came in here just to mess with me, didn't you?"

"Yep. I didn't know he was here… not surprised though. Maybe you'll come back from the asteroid and have some cute little blue-eyed babies."

Faith rolled her eyes. "We barely know each other, stop planning the wedding."

"You know more about him than some of the guys you've gone out with. Don't tell me you don't." Faith opened her mouth to deny but she closed it again when she realized that her sister was right.

"Shut up, Gracie."

* * *

 

Faith glanced at the clock; she had no idea why she was awake at quarter to four in the morning. If they held to the schedule, everyone else would sleep for a few more hours before they got any work done. Faith figured that if she was up this early, she might as well do something.

Since Faith slept in her workout shorts and sports bra, she pulled the gray NASA t-shirt over her head and slid her feet into her sneakers. She grabbed her ID tag and left her room. Now, if she only knew where she was going.

Faith walked around a bit before she heard Tucker call her name. "Where are you off too?"

"No clue,” she told him. “Thought I might go for a run but I have no idea where I'm allowed to go."

The tall pilot chuckled. "You can run with us if you want."

"Who is this us you speak of?"

He smiled. "Flight crew. All six of us."

"Sounds good."

The pair joked back and forth as they weaved their way through the building. Eventually, they found the others outside one of the hangers.

"We have a seventh this morning," Tucker said.

"If it's alright with all of you,” Faith said. “Been up since three. Can't sleep."

"You and everyone else. I haven't sleep well since they told us," Gruber said to her.

Watts nodded. "Kinda hard to sleep when the world is counting on you not to screw up."

Faith looked at them. "Please don't tell me you guys are nervous. This _is_ what you do for a living."

"Doesn't mean we don't worry about it. If it makes you feel better, your team is doing pretty good for a bunch of civilians that got pulled off the street and told the world was gonna end. No offense, but I had my doubts." That was the most she ever heard Halsey say.

"We'll try not to disappoint but if you're all worried, what kinda hope does my team have?" Faith asked.

"Fear is healthy, kid," the Independence's Air Force Pilot told her.

She looked at Davis. "Well, no wonder I passed the physical. I'm terrified."

They all laughed and Davis shook his head.

"Nothing against your team, Stamper,” he said, “but you got those boys beat by miles. I figure as long as you and your dad can keep everyone focused, we have a chance."

"That's a lot you're resting on my shoulders, Colonel. What if I'm not up to it?"

"Have some faith, Faith," Tucker said. She felt pride swell up in her chest, these men and Watts, thought she could do this.

Faith ultimately rolled her eyes at his joke. "Sharp beat you to that one a few days ago. Now, are we talking or running?"

"Running,” Tucker said, “just don't get too carried away. We’re replaceable, you’re not."

She looked at Sharp. "Is that true?"

"There's a list of pilots and munitions specialists to take over if something happens to one of us but you built the drill, there’s nobody who could even attempt to replace you,” he said. Faith doesn't know why that didn't register with her before but she shook the thought out of her head as the whole group took off.

They weren't going fast and, in a way, it seemed like they just needed to do something normal. She stayed with Watts, behind the colonels but ahead of everyone else, as the group ran around the large hanger closest to the flight line. She liked this group; they were like a more serious version of her team.

Faith doesn't know how long they were out there but Tucker cracked jokes the whole time, Sharp kept an eye on her without being too obvious about it and she almost tripped when she saw Halsey smile; she didn't know he had it in him.


	5. Oh, the Things I Know

"Yay… the pool." Rock really doesn't like this part. This was the last underwater simulation they were doing as a whole group. The plan was to split them into their teams for the last week of training, Faith couldn't wait.

"Scared of the water, Rockhound?" came Bear's gentle, yet booming, voice.

Rock looked at the big guy. "No, man. I'm not scared of anything."

"Except getting your dick chopped off," A.J. stage whispered.

"Angry dads with shotguns," Oscar added. "Getting arrested for sleeping with someone underage.

"Sexual harassment lawsuits," Freddy said with a chuckle.

"Oh, come on, guys. You know his biggest fear is women who won't fuck him," Faith said, earning a laugh from her friends.

Rockhound looked at her. "Hey now, you're more than welcome to take yourself off the list."

"Not even if the world was ending, Rock," she told him. "Oh, wait, it kinda is."

"That's okay, Faith," he said, looking over at her. "I know your tastes are a little more… patriotic."

Harry looked at them both. "Who might that be, exactly?"

"Nobody, dad," Faith lied. That was not a conversation she was having right here and now.

"Uh huh," Freddy and A.J. muttered in unison.

"Frosty and Freddy," she said in the sweetest voice possible, "do you really want me to start talking? Oh, the things I know." She smiled at them. "The stories I could tell. "

They both went silent and Bear laughed, his baritone voice was soothing even when he was giving the boys grief. "Now, ya'll know better than to mess with Faith. Especially you, A.J. We all know Gracie don't go for that."

"Whipped." Oscar made a whipping sound. Faith glared at him and he closed his mouth.

"He ain't the only one," Freddy said. "She's not even your girl and she shut you up. Who's really whipped?" Faith looked at her best friend, who also closed his mouth.

"Dude, she's gonna hurt ya," Max said, shaking his head.

"I don't have the energy and we don't have the time," Faith said. "Now, can we get to work to it?"

* * *

"Stampers, you're with me. Everyone else, you're done for the day."

Faith glanced at her dad before they followed Truman from the room. They walked down the hall and entered a conference room where Quincy, Kimsey, Flight Director Clarke and the flight teams were sitting. Faith sat next Tucker while Harry sat next to Watts.

"So, we need to pick the teams. I'm sure we all have some ideas about who should go where," Truman told the group. She and Harry were already assigned to specific shuttles, apparently, they hadn't figured out where to put everyone else.

Clarke nodded. "Since we're doubled up, the teams need to be even."

"You guys really do love making things difficult," Faith said. "Me, A.J., Freddy, Oscar and Bear on Independence. Harry, Rock, Chick and Max on Freedom." They all looked at her; Kimsey was the first to speak.

"How did you come up with that, Miss Stamper?" the general asked.

"Uh, process of elimination," she said with a shrug. "Me and dad are team leaders, A.J. and Max run the 'dillos, Oscar and Rock are the geologists. Freddy is my right-hand man, same goes for Chick with Harry. I have more control over A.J. than Harry does and he works best with Oscar, they're both with me. Bear is the odd man out but I figured dad wouldn't want us kids up there without adult supervision. Like I said, easy."

Clarke and Truman shared a look before the head of NASA looked at her father. "Thoughts?"

"I think she covered it." The veteran driller nodded. "Teams are as even as possible and they work well together."

"Well, that's all I needed," Truman told them. "Get outta here and get some rest."

Sharp nudged her as she passed him, so she slowed her steps to wait for him. "I've never seen the general with that look on his face before."

"It's a gift," she said with a smile. "He's lucky that I'm being nice. I don't like him any more than he likes me."

"What's not to like?" Sharp whispered.

Faith felt herself blush. "Careful, Colonel, flattery will get you everywhere."

"I'll have to remember that." He chuckled. "I wanna show you something, if you're up to it."

"Depends on what it is."

"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you."

"Color me intrigued," Faith said.

* * *

"Where are we?" Faith asked as she looked around.

"Building 30. It was built in '65 for the Gemini four mission." They went up a set of stairs to the third floor. "This is MOCR two, also known as the Apollo Mission Control Center."

Faith took in the room. It was small compared to the other mission control room in the other building but so much seemed to happen here. This was where missions to the moon were monitored.

"Mission Operation Control Room, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. They changed it to mission control sometime in the seventies. We were still using this place until 1992. It's been a historic landmark since '85 so they couldn't upgrade like they wanted to."

"Because of Apollo 11?"

"Glad to see someone was listening to me." He smiled before sitting in one of the chairs and looking up at her. "I was beginning to think that class was pointless."

"Truman gave us some stuff to read. Might've glimpsed it." Faith shrugged. "Besides, everybody knows about Apollo 11, we put a man on the moon."

"That we did," Sharp said as Faith looked around. She ran her fingers over the small plaque that said 'CAPCOM'. "I've manned that station before. Not in here, though."

"Really?"

"You'll learn some of this tomorrow. CAPCOM means Capsule Communicator; call sign Houston, like in the movies. It's easier to have one station at mission control that talks with the crew and it's almost always a team of astronauts on a rotation."

"Big job?" she asked him.

"No bigger than the others but it can be. If everything goes how it's supposed to, it's standard but for missions like Apollo 13... to be Houston during that mission is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Don't get me started on the Challenger." He shook his head.

Challenger was a shuttle that exploded in 1986 a minute and thirteen seconds after launching on what would've been the shuttle's tenth mission, killing all seven crew members. NASA grounded the shuttle program for two and a half years after that.

"You come over here a lot, don't you?" she asked. He seemed really comfortable in this place. Not like he was in the plane, but still.

"I don't know about a lot. It's just, we have a difficult mission coming up. Helps me to remember those who came before us. Like the guys from Apollo 13. The general consensus is that they shouldn't have made it back but they did, despite the odds. Maybe some of that luck will rub off on us."

"Maybe it already has." Faith ran her fingers along his jaw; he caught her hand in his and kissed her fingers.

"We should head back, it's getting late."

"Yea. Wouldn't want to fall asleep in class, I doubt my instructor would like that very much."

Sharp chuckled as he stood. "You're too busy watching me to fall asleep. Besides, you need the info. I'll make astronauts outta all of you, even if it kills me."

"Might. We're all stubborn," Faith said quietly.

"So am I," he whispered before his lips descended on hers.

All the thoughts in her mind just vanished and everything became about this, about him. The only thing that registered to Faith was the feeling of their bodies pressed against each other, the feeling of his lips against hers, the gentleness of his hands as they cupped her face. If she could stay like this until the end of the world, she would.

When they finally pulled away from each other, there was something in his eyes, like he could see straight through to her soul and it took her breath away.

"Faith." It came out almost like a prayer.

Whatever this was, whatever they were, it had nothing to do with the planet's impending doom. If nothing else, the only thing being here did was put them in the same place. Other than the rig, her whole life was in Texas. Her home, less than an hour away from the space center. How many times have they passed each other on the street? Or been in the same place? Maybe this whole thing was just fate's way of forcing them into each other's lives.

Much as she hated to admit it, maybe Grace was right.

* * *

"What's wrong?" her sister asked as soon as she opened the door to A.J.'s room.

"Just let me in," Faith muttered with a shake of her head.

"What's wrong with you?" A.J. asked from his spot on the bed. Instead of answering him, Faith looked at her sister.

"Oh," the younger Stamper said. " _Ohhh_."

"I don't know what happened. I mean, he looked at me and I swear I… It was like getting hit by a Mack truck. This feeling in my chest like..."

"Like you love Sharp," Grace finished for her.

"This shit doesn't happen to me and not with someone I've known for like a week. I mean… I don't even know what I mean." Faith sat on the empty bed and took a breath. Grace opened her mouth to say something but AJ stopped her.

"Faith, look at me," her future brother-in-law ordered. Usually, she would just glare at him if he said that to her but she didn't have it in her. She looked at the man who wanted to marry her sister. "You want to know what the rest of us see?"

"The rest of us?" she asked.

"Me, Rock and Freddy. Maybe Bear too, I'm not entirely sure," he told her. "Kinda hard to miss how you light up when Sharp's around. Or, for a guy with a rep for being a hardass, how laid back he is when he's with you. I haven't seen you like that since we were kids." A.J. smiled. "So, it's only been a week, big deal. I knew I loved Grace day one. I think you need to stop worrying so much and just go with it. We don't know what this mission will bring and I don't know about you but I don't want to have any regrets when I strap into that shuttle."

"That's the most eloquent thing I think I've ever heard you say," Faith said quietly.

"Can't reveal all my skills," he said. "Now, go get some sleep because we got astronaut school with your boyfriend in the morning."

"That's not…" she started before pausing. "We kinda are, huh?"

Grace nodded. "Yep."

"You'll be fine once you decide not to worry about it," A.J. said.

"And you'd be fine if you showed some of this wisdom around Harry. He might not give you such a hard time," she told the not-so-hotheaded hothead.

"I don't know if everyone could handle the A.J. I get to see all the time," Grace pointed out. Faith knew that behind the devil may care attitude, A.J. had a big heart and that's why Grace loved him so damn much.

"I only use it on important stuff," he said with a shrug.

"Like girl talk," Faith teased.

"Okay, get out of my room," A.J. half ordered with a laugh.

"But, Frosty, I thought we were gonna paint our toes or something." She chuckled.

"I really don't see how Sharp puts up with you," he said with a smile.

"Me neither." Faith shrugged. "That might actually be part of the problem."

"You're overthinking it, as usual. Just relax," her sister said. "Please."

"I will try," she told Grace before standing up to give her a quick hug. "Love you."

"Love you more," Grace said.

"What about me? I'm the one with all the advice," A.J. said. "I don't any love?"

Faith rolled her eyes before giving her soon-to-be brother-in-law a hug. "Love you too, Frosty."

* * *

Will was right; she was too aware of him to do anything but pay attention. At least she wasn't the only one. They had a week until launch and that meant that they needed to get everything done, including understand a few years' worth of information. Of course, Harry noticed that something was up with her. After lunch, he pulled her aside.

"You okay? You're quiet today."

"Got some stuff on my mind. I'm fine," she told him.

"You sure?" he asked, his eyes giving her a once over.

"Yeah, I'm good," Faith said. "Really."

Her father kissed her temple. "If you say so. I know I haven't been the best dad to you and Grace but I hope that you'll tell me if something's bothering you."

"You're a good dad," she argued. "Maybe not the smartest dad but a good one, nonetheless. You love us and you did everything you could to take care of us. It's not your fault that mom split."

"You sure about that?"

"She made a choice to ran away from whatever the problems were, that's not on you. She missed out, Grace is amazing and I'm pretty kickass, if I do say so myself," she said, earning a smile from her old man. "Come on. If we do this right, the 'dillos will be finished today."

"And here I thought I was the boss." Harry chuckled.

"That's what me and Grace let you think," Faith told him. "You can't run the company without us."

"Yeah, about that…" he said. "I updated my will, you and Grace get everything if I don't make it back. The business, the rig, the property in Galveston, my personal assets."

She looked at him. "Dad…"

"The company can run without me but not without you or Grace. I was gonna give it to you in a couple years anyway."

"What? You didn't even wanna hire me, now you're telling me that you were gonna just give me Stamper Oil. Are you planning to die on me or something?" She barely noticed that everyone was listening to them.

"I didn't want you to stay because I didn't want to hold you back. Watching you this past week, Faith, I realized that it's in your blood as much as it's in mine. I couldn't be prouder of you if I tried. And no, I'm not planning to die, just making sure you girls are covered if I do."

"And what if I decide to do something else or I die?" she asked.

"Grace gets it all."

"Can't talk you out of it, can I?" Faith already knowing his answer, he's more stubborn than she is.

"Nope."

"I don't like this," Faith told him.

"That's because you're smarter than me. Now, we got work to do, boss."

* * *

The next day, they took the -finished- armadillos out to the testing sight for the first half of the day. After lunch, they did more D.A.T. training with Tucker and Watts. Faith couldn't help but notice the missing colonels, one in particular.

That night, she took a quick shower and was about to climb into bed when there was a knock on her door. Not light enough to be Grace but not loud enough to be one of the guys, that left her with one person. She opened the door and a huge smile broke out on her face.

"Hi."

"Can I come in?" Sharp asked with a smile of his own.

"Yeah. Sure," she said as she moved out of the way. The second Faith closed the door, she found herself pressed against it. Sharp kissed her like a man stranded in the desert who just found water. When they broke apart to breathe, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Missed you today," he whispered.

"I can see that," Faith said. "What were you up to?"

"Flight sims in the morning and a meeting with Kimsey while you guys were doing D.A.T."

"All that and you still had time to miss me."

"Of course, I did." The pilot offered up a tired smile, looking more exhausted then she felt. It was just after midnight, he should've gone to bed instead of stopping to see her.

"Will, you look like you could use a few hours of sleep."

He chuckled. "That your way of saying I look like crap?"

"I was trying to be nice." She reached up and touched the side of his face. "You okay?"

"Yeah. No. I'm not sure."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not supposed to. At least, not with anyone who isn't Kimsey or Davis." He closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. "You can't tell anybody. Not Harry, not your sister or the team. I could get grounded, tossed in the brig and kicked out the Air Force if Kimsey even thinks I disobeyed an order."

"You don't have to tell me," she told him. "Last thing I would want to do is get you into any trouble."

"That's just it. If I don't tell you and something happens, my career'll be the least of my problems. I want you to know. You just have to promise, it stays right here."

"Of course. I won't tell a soul," she promised.

"Some idiot came up with a fail-safe in case the drilling doesn't work."

"I'll try not to be insulted."

"Right. I doubt it'll work but, if they think that the drilling's not working, I have orders to I have orders to protect a surface detonation. With deadly force if necessary. Kimsey called it Secondary Protocol."

If something like that could work, they wouldn't be going on this trip in the first place. And how the hell did Kimsey, the Air Force or anyone else expect her team to just stand back and let the bomb go off?

"How would they even…?"

"Remotely. The trigger can be activated using the same signal as the comms. It's actually a little more powerful."

"And they want you guys to… what, exactly? Beat us over the head with a wrench if we try to disarm it?"

"Weapons locker on each of the shuttles." He took a breath. "If I'm being honest, I get why but we're all on the same team. How Kimsey expects me and Davis to pull a gun on any of you, I'll never know."

Faith placed her hands on either side of his face. "If something like that happens, you'll do the right thing."

"How can you be so sure?"

Faith placed a soft kiss on his lips. "Because you're a good person, Will."

"How do you know that? We haven't known each other that long." He jokingly tossed her argument back at her and she smiled.

"I know enough. Come on, I'm going to bed and so are you. Boots off."

He gave her a look before he moved to do what she told him. "There aren't a lot of people who can get away with telling me what to do. I like it."

"Good to know." Faith chuckled and pulled her sweatshirt off.

She heard him suck in a breath before she felt his fingers run along the tattoo on her side. "'If you're going through hell, keep going.' Churchill?" She nodded. "That sounds like you."

"I thought so."

After stripping out of his jumpsuit and grabbing the pillow off the other bed, he slid into bed with her. Will pulled her into his arms and for the first time since she got to the space center, she relaxed. This should be awkward but it wasn't, Faith was more comfortable than she expected to be.

He kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, beautiful."

She kissed his neck. "Goodnight."


	6. We're All on Edge

"Now, let's keep the laughter to a minimum," Truman said. "I know this is not to scale."

Faith was sitting between Will and Freddy in a briefing room in mission control. She could feel the eyes on her as Truman got started.

"Ignore 'em," Will whispered.

"That what you do?" she whispered back. He nodded just as Freddy gave her a nudge. Truman pulled out what looked like toy shuttles out and she had to stop herself from laughing.

"Both shuttles will take off at 6:30pm," Truman said. "Now, 67 minutes later, you're gonna dock with the Russian Space Station to meet cosmonaut Colonel Andropov, who will refuel the shuttles with liquid O2, that's your fuel, then you'll release and take a 60-hour trip toward the moon. Now we only have one shot of landing on this rock, and that's precisely when the asteroid passes by the moon. You'll then use lunar gravity and burn your thrusters, that'll slingshot you around the moon, coming up behind the asteroid. You'll be upward of 11 G's."

"Yeah, I remember this one. It's where the, uh, the coyote sat his ass down in a slingshot then he strapped himself to an Acme rocket. Is that… is that what we're doin' here?" Rockhound asked, her dad giving him a look. "No, no, really, because it didn't work out too well for the coyote, Harry."

"Come on, Rock," Freddy said. "The math's good. You know that as well as I do." Faith nodded in agreement. Rockhound ran the numbers himself a few times, so has Freddy and so has she.

"Well, actually," Truman said with a smirk, "we have a lot better rockets than the coyote." That earned a few snickers from the group. "Now, when you've finished your Roadrunner thrust move, you'll be moving at 22,500 miles per hour. Coming around the asteroid, where we're hoping that the tail debris will be cleared by the moon's gravity, and you'll land, right here." Truman pointed to two unimpressive looking spots in the back of the asteroid model.

"We got separate landing sites for each team," Clarke said, "softest parts of the rock as we can figure. At NASA, we don't take chances, we double up on everything. First team to eight hundred feet wins." She shared a look with her dad as Clarke continued. "This rock is big, it's dense, it has some gravity so you can walk around but use your thrusters so you can work easier."

"Ok, Mister Truman, let's say that we actually do land on this. What's it gonna be like up there?" Leave it to Oscar to ask that question.

Truman looked at him. "Two hundred degrees in the sunlight, minus two hundred in the shade, canyons of razor-sharp rock, unpredictable gravitational conditions, unexpected eruptions, things like that."

"Okay." Oscar nodded. "The scariest environment imaginable. Thanks. That's all you gotta say, scariest environment imaginable." If she wasn't already scared, she sure as hell was now. They were three days from launch and with each passing moment, it became more real than it was the moment before.

"So, you drill, you drop the nuke, and you leave," Truman said. "Now, here's the key: you're gonna remote-detonate the bomb... before the asteroid passes this plane…" Truman nodded at Quincy, who played a simulation of the asteroid. "…Zero Barrier. You do that, and the remaining pieces of rock should be deflected enough to pass right by us. Now, if the bomb explodes after Zero Barrier..." The video showed the asteroid fragments hitting the Earth. "…Game's over. That's all I got for you. You guys have some armadillo training on deck for the rest of the day."

Everyone nodded at Truman and started leaving the room.

"You ready to school the old guys, Faith?" Tucker asked with a chuckle.

Before she could say anything, Max shook his head. "You kids don't have a chance."

"You say that now, Max, just wait," A.J. said from behind her.

"I love you, kids, but you're just asking for trouble," Chick said.

"Yea… you _kids_ act like you're God's gift. You can't top us. We were drilling when you were all still babies."

"Need I remind you that I am a Stamper?" Faith asked. "This is what I do; like my father and his father and his father. I think I already got you topped, Rock."

Her father's friend laughed. "You'll never be on our level, Faith. No offense."

"You know what, Rock, you're right," she said, sliding her arm around his shoulders. "I'll never be on your level… because I'm the upgrade." Faith kissed his cheek. "But you know that already."

"Well," Tucker said as the rest of the group went silent, "I think she took that round. Thanks for playing, gentleman."

* * *

"Harry, just sit back, relax. I'm gonna put on a free armadillo driving clinic." Faith rolled her eyes at the comment A.J. made to her dad over the radio.

They were out in the middle of the desert training on the armadillos for the last time before they get packed up to go to Florida. Max seemed to be doing okay but A.J. was, as usual, driving like a maniac.

"How you feel about all this?" Will asked from over her shoulder.

She didn't turn to face him but she smiled. "I think I always knew we were walking into hell and some of us aren't coming home but what Truman said today makes it more... real, I guess."

"Seems to be one of his special skills," he told her.

"Whoa, Harry! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bear shouted at the vehicle. Faith, Chick, Will and the other pilots jumped out of the way.

"Idiot," Watts muttered.

Chick looked at her. "You would think that your dad would be able to stop him from doin' dumb shit, monkey."

"Since when does A.J. listen to dad?" Faith asked with a chuckle before hitting the button on her two-way radio. "We don't have time to fix it if you fuck up the gear, Frosty. Slow down."

"Fine," he said as the armadillo's speed dropped off. "Happy, woman?"

"Immensely," she said.

"How do you do that?" Chick asked. "Keep him in check."

"Easy, he's not an idiot. He only acts like that because ya'll expect him to."

* * *

"That's all I got for you guys. We have a few more days, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them," Will said as he finished the last class they were going to have before they left.

When nobody asked anything, he let them go. Faith was about to leave the room when she noticed her dad and Will move off to the side.

"Wonder what that's about," Freddy uttered from over her shoulder.

"You have no idea," she said, looking up at him.

"I would if my best friend would tell me," he said as they walked out of the room. "Were you ever gonna say anything about you and you know who?"

"According to A.J., you already know. What is there left for me to say?" Faith asked.

"Uh, you could try with 'Hey, Fred, I'm banging the pilot'," Freddy said.

"I'm not banging anything or anyone."

"What?" Freddy looked at her in disbelief. "Why not?"

"Exhaustion?"

"You don't believe that any more than I do," he said. "Don't tell me you're scared."

"Not scared," she told him. "I don't know what to think or feel and…"

"And you're trying to sort all that out before you add sex to the equation. If that's the case, then that vibe you two have, the one you think I don't notice but I do, is the real deal. You love him." It wasn't a question so she didn't say anything. "You're worried."

"Aren't you?" Faith asked her friend.

Freddy shrugged. "I guess. I mean, way see it, if we go then we could die. If we don't go, everyone will die. Not really much more to think about then that. Though, if someone I cared about was going on this mission, I'd tell them how I felt while I had the chance."

"Does that mean you don't care about me?"

"Oh, please. I love you to death and you know it. And you love me like a brother. And if you don't make it back and I do, I'll keep an eye on Gracie. Come on, that's one conversation we never have to have."

He was right. They've been friends for so long that they could have whole conversations without saying anything.

"Tell him," Freddy said. Before she could reply, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Faith, tell him. You might not get another chance."

* * *

"…Gracie grew up to become a full-blown hottie, you know?" That was now, officially, at the top of the list of things she never wants to hear from Rockhound.

Faith and Freddy looked at each other before they followed the group. She was sure she knew what this was about but the guys calling Grace hot wasn't helping because her dad was getting more upset with each passing second.

"Harry, she is fully hot. She is…" came from Max.

"She's a babe," Rock added.

"Guys, okay, you're talking about my little girl, all right?" Harry yelled. "I think I know who and what she is, okay?"

"Harry, all we're sayin' is, we're talkin' about a kid who's comin' into her own right now," Oscar said. "She's gettin' curious about her body, and she's exploring her sexuality. You know what?"

"Oscar," Harry tried to cut him off.

The blonde kept talking, "That's a natural thing."

"You are about five minutes older than Grace is," Harry said. "Why should I listen to you?"

Oscar shrugged. "I know what it feels like to have your hormones pullin' you in just a thousand different directions."

"No disrespect, man, but we all helped to raise her. So, in part, we all feel like a bunch of daddies here." Thank the maker for Bear.

Rock nodded. "That's true."

"I'll be damned if I worked all these years so my little girl can marry a roughneck. She's better than that. Better than all of us."

"That include me?" Faith asked, jumping into the conversation.

"Faith…"

"I mean, I made a choice and I had to fight you on it for years. Is that how it's gonna be with Grace? She's only good enough to make her own choices as long as you agree with them?"

Her father groaned. "It's not the same, A.J. asked…"

"He asked her to marry him. I know," she said. "He talked to me first." Faith took a breath. "You look at him and I think you forget the kid who used to run around the back yard with me when our moms would visit each other. The kid who's loved Grace since before they knew what love was. The man who would die in a heartbeat for her. For me. For _you_. Do you know how many p\eople dream of a love like that?"

"It's different, Faith," her father said.

"It's always different. That's the way life is. It changes, people do too," Faith said. "You might not understand or agree but… it's her life, Harry. And even if you don't want to admit it, you love him too." The look on his face told Faith that she was right.

"How'd you get so damn smart?" he asked.

"I had a good teacher," she said before looking around the room. "A few of them, actually. Except Oscar, he's still a baby."

They all laughed when the man in question shouted. "Hey!"

"I don't know about ya'll but I'm gonna congratulate my sister… later."

* * *

"Lucy, I'm home."

"If anything," Will said, "I'm Desi and you're Lucy."

"Fair enough. Want some company, Colonel?" she asked.

"Of course. I gotta brighten up the place somehow," he said with a smile.

"Happy to help," Faith said, looking around at the room that was obviously meant for one. Will didn't say anything, just leaned against the door and watched her. She turned to look at him. "You're staring at me."

"You're beautiful. Can't help it," Will told her.

"Says the man with the otherworldly eyes."

"You think they're 'otherworldly'?"

"Yes." Faith nodded. "They're distracting."

"Are they?"

"Very."

"Well, if you wanna talk about distractions," he said as he walked towards her, "I suggest looking in a mirror." Then he kissed her.

Everything seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. Before she even realized it, he had her pinned to bed and she didn't mind one bit. Will's mouth was hot and demanding, Faith slid her hands under his t-shirt to touch the warm skin there before she pulled the shirt over his head.

"Will."

He pulled back, his blue eyes shining. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," it came out barely above a whisper.

Just like that, he closed the space between them again, his lips on hers as he unzipped her jumpsuit. That started a frenzied rush to get each other's clothes off. Every inch of her skin was screaming to be in contact with his, Faith had never been so turned on in her life.

"Will." His mouth curved into a knowing smile as he stretched over her, his weight balanced on one arm, his other hand on her hip.

"Faith, look at me."

Their eyes locked as he slid into her, it stole her breath away. Without wasting a second, he began moving, deep, hard. Faith was sure that she was gonna lose what was left of her mind. She instinctively rose to meet him, they found their rhythm and moved together. She kissed his neck, his jaw and anywhere else she could reach as each move pushed them both closer the brink.

"I love you, Faith." The words, whispered in her ear, sent her over the edge in free fall. She mumbled his name as her spine arched and her head fell back onto the bed. They moved harder and faster, Will's control was almost nonexistent. He pulled her into another orgasm on the heels of the first, this time, his arm wrapped around her as he followed.

"I can't move," Faith muttered as their breathing slowed.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, I'm not," she told him before they rearranged themselves on the small bed.

"Sorry I didn't take my time. Couldn't take my time," he whispered against her shoulder. If he was expecting her to complain, he'll be waiting a long time.

"Don't ever apologize for that. I know I didn't really say it but… I love you too. I don't know what's gonna happen up there but I just wanted to say it. I need you to know."

"I knew that before you did."

* * *

"What's Kimsey doin' here?" Faith whispered to Tucker.

He glanced at the man in question. "Wants to have something to tell the President, I guess."

She nodded and tried to ignore her annoyance at having the General looking over their shoulders. Quincy told them Kimsey's idea of a solution and even they weren't dumb enough to suggest shooting a hundred nuclear weapons at anything, especially a giant rock hurtling towards the planet.

"So, Independence will go first. Faith, you'll be leading the team from inside the command center," Truman told the group.

"Understood," she said with a nod before and Freedom's team followed the director into the simulator's control room. Will, Watts and Davis were already there getting prepped.

"You ready, kid?" Davis asked her.

Faith looked at her shuttle's pilot. "As I'll ever be. Let's do this."

* * *

"Good job, guys," Faith said into her headset. Everything was going well, until Harry opened his mouth.

"Faith, they need…"

"I know, dad," she said, her eyes on the gauges.

"Okay," the technician next to her said, "we're gonna trip 'em up. My computer will simulate a gas pocket at six hundred twenty-five feet and then hard ferrite at six thirty-five."

"I'm gonna drill some more. We're takin' her up," came AJ's voice over the comms system.

Bear's voice was next. "I'm givin' it more torque right now."

"All right, lookin' good, Papa Bear," Faith said with a smile. "Clamp it down and let's watch our time, Independence."

"You got it, boss lady. Is it just me, or is it cool that Faith is our boss?" Oscar asked the guys in the tank with him.

She chuckled at him. "We got work to do, Oscar, talk about me later."

"They're gonna blow the tranny," Harry muttered from behind her.

Faith rolled her eyes, he has got to trust her. "I can see that, Harry. Frosty, slow it down, man."

Her sister's fiancé chuckled. "Take it easy, Faith… I got it."

"What you have is the fate of the world in your hands," she told him. "You're at six hundred twenty feet. Your pipe is long." Faith looked at Will's screen next to her. "It won't kill us to drop the RPM's down to eight thousand for a minute so we don't blow the transmission. We got time."

"Yea, yea. I got it." He didn't like it but he did was she said and backed the RPM's back to eight thousand.

"His RPM's are good," Will told her from his seat at the console.

"Good job, guys." Harry opened his mouth but she cut him off, "They have enough to worry about without you adding another voice to their heads. When your team is in the tank you can do what you want but I need you to be quiet."

"Fait…"

"We are not on the rig anymore and they are no longer your men. I have a job to do, now you can either shut up or get out. Pick your pleasure."

Everyone looked at her before turning back to their tasks. Will smirked but didn't say anything. Harry took a breath before moving to sit with Rock and Chick.

"Thank you," she said before getting back to work. "Now, where was I?"

Team Independence ran the sim all the way to eight hundred feet before they switched out with the Freedom team. Harry all but glared at her when she gave up her seat and moved to stand with Tucker as her team walked into the control room.

"Badass, girl," Bear said when he saw her.

"Come on, Papa Bear," she said with a smile. "You act like you don't already know."

"Knowing and seeing are different, baby girl," her friend said with a bright smile.

"Your dad's pissed," Freddy muttered.

"He'll get over it," she told him before filling him in on what happened.

"Sounds like you guys," her best friend said with a chuckle. "He does know he won't be up there with us, right?"

"If he didn't, he does now," Faith said as her dad's team started their simulation.

Freedom was smoother than Independence, she'd give them that one, but it probably had something to do with their decades of working together. There was a flow to it that her team hadn't yet mastered.

"Man, they're good," Oscar whispered.

"We all are," Freddy added.

"They've had more practice than us," she told them.

"You think we'll ever be that good?" Oscar asked.

"We're already that good," A.J. said.

"No, we're not," Faith said. "Don't get me wrong, because we're awesome, but we're not that good."

"What happened to all that Faith Stamper bravado?" Tucker asked.

"I can be prideful or I can be realistic. I'm choosing realism."

* * *

"I want my men to have tomorrow night off." Harry, Truman, Will and Faith were walking through the building when her father made that statement.

"What do you mean 'off'?" Truman asked.

Her father glanced at her. "I mean, off. Out of here. For at least ten hours. Then we'll go to Kennedy."

"Well, there's no possible way we can do that, Harry," Truman said. "There's a potentially huge security risk. What if they talk? What if they get hurt?"

"What if they're too burnt out to do the right thing? What if they get up there, and they forget what they're fighting for?" her dad asked.

"We're all on edge," she added. "We didn't ask to be here, you brought here. For all we know, this is our last couple days on Earth."

"It's not too much for them to see their families," Harry said.

Truman tried to dissuade Harry again. "Listen, there's no possible way we can do that."

"You got family, Colonel?" Harry asked Will.

"Two girls."

"Wouldn't you like to spend tomorrow with your girls?" her dad asked. Will didn't have to say anything; the answer was written on his face clear as day. Harry looked at Truman. "I'm not askin' ya. I'm tellin' ya. Make this happen."

"You grew up with him?" She nodded at Truman's question. "God bless you."


	7. It's the End of the World as We Know It

Everyone thought she was kidding but Faith went home as soon as Truman gave them the all-clear and a don't-do-anything-dumb speech, managing to get the group twelve hours of solace. There was a part of her that almost entertained the idea of going with Will to see his daughters but she told him to go without her. It wasn't that she didn't want to meet Clare and Ella, she just knew that it wasn't the right time. He needed to see them without having to worry about her.

Grace and A.J. ran off to 'be alone' and her dad was going to see her grandfather. It was a long time coming if you asked Faith; the two men have been ignoring each other for the last decade or so. She could almost guarantee that Chick went to see his son, even though his ex-wife had a court order that said he shouldn’t. If Denise only knew what was going on, she would welcome him with open arms.

Bear, Freddy, Rock, Oscar and Max all headed to a strip club, to the surprise of no one. It was just like them to want to see naked girls before they headed off to Kennedy Space Center in the morning. It was all so unreal, the reality of this whole mess. Before she could give it any more thought, someone rang her doorbell.

"Aren't you supposed to be with two little girls who look like you?" she asked as she opened the door.

Will smiled. "I was. I hung out, colored a bunch of pictures, had dinner, watched a movie, read bedtime stories and tucked them in. I couldn't stay without telling Jess what was going on and I don't want them to worry." She stepped aside to let him in. He looked around. "So, this is you?"

"Yep." Her house was a mix of different styles, none of the furniture matched but it all went together well. The floor plan was open but it was welcoming. "I wanted it to have character."

He chuckled. "It does have that but I think it's more to do with you."

“Charmer,” Faith said with a smile.

"Only around you." Will wrapped his arms around Faith and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Hi."

"Hi." All that time they spent trapped together at Johnson Space Center and hours after they get to leave, here they are. She couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"What?" Will asked. Faith told him what she was thinking and he let out a chuckle. "I thought that on my drive over. I almost went home. Figured you'd need a break from me."

"There is no one else I'd rather spend my last day off on Earth with."

He kissed her neck. "That so?"

“It is." The thought of him here, in her house, felt so right. "Come on." She took his hand and pulled him up the stairs.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm spending the rest of the night in your arms… so bed."

"I think that is the best idea I've heard in a while."

* * *

Dottie, the asteroid, was public. A meteor shower hit South East Asia overnight, killing over 50,000 people in Shanghai and the whole world looked up. Everything was already in overdrive when they all got back to NASA.

"This is crazy, Faithie," her best friend said to her, falling into step with her and Will.

She chuckled. "Story of our lives, Fred."

“No kidding,” Freddy said.

"Sharp, Stamper, Noonan, you gotta see this," Tucker motioned for them to follow him. The three of them squeezed into the room with the tall pilot, the rest of the crew was standing around a large screen watching as a newscaster started talking.

"A French satellite has tracked an object in space. Scientists are calling this a global killer. We have just learned that NASA is on a full-scale military alert. The government has been very tight-lipped, though, it appears that the Pentagon is getting involved at this point with some kind of a project involving, perhaps, a shuttle mission. Senior Pentagon officials refused to comment, adding fuel to the speculation that there could be a very serious problem."

Freddy huffed. "No shit. Think NASA will talk to them?"

"I'll have a statement for 'em when you get to Kennedy. Everyone ready?" Truman asked them.

He was met with looks and Harry chuckled. "I'm gonna go with 'no'."

Truman nodded but didn’t say anything else. The man looked like hell and Faith didn't envy him at all, he was the one who had to explain to the world what they were doing.

“We’re as ready as we can be, Truman,” Faith said from her spot between Will and Tucker. “We’ll get it done."

The older man looked at her. "I know. Good luck, everyone. Your ride to Kennedy is waiting."

The teams grabbed their gear and said their goodbyes to the Johnson staff members before heading out to the flight line where two planes were waiting to take them to Florida.

"Riding with us, Gracie?" Oscar asked.

The youngest Stamper shook her head. "I'm gonna fly with Harry. You know…"

Faith squeezed her sister's hand before pressing a kiss to her temple. "I know. See you in a few hours, sweetie.”

She watched as her sister ran off to catch up with their father before following Freddy up the stairs to her plane. Faith knew she should be excited about all this but there was just a sense of dread hanging over her head.

“We got this, Faith,” Bear said, offering the empty seat next to him.

“Damn right, we do." She looked at him. “Can’t help it if I’m worried, though.”

“Wish you were flying with your boyfriend?” When Faith gave him a look, he laughed. “I see more than I say, baby girl.”

“I suppose you do,” Faith said as she buckled her seatbelt. “It’s not just him. Dad and Grace are over there too. I know why they have us in separate flights, doesn’t mean I like it.”

“Fair enough. Why don’t you try to get some rest?”

“Me? Why don’t you try?”

“Who knows,” the big guy said, “maybe I will.”

* * *

Kennedy was like a mad house, teaming with people who were trying to get past the military personnel posted at the gates. Faith couldn’t believe her eyes as people clamored for just a glimpse of their team.

“I’m guessing this is new?” she asked Davis.

“It’s an emergency lockdown. They haven’t had to do one of those in years,” he told her as they walked into the main building.

"Astronauts, welcome to Kennedy, I'm Tony Shaw. If you need anything, I'm the person you call. We have rooms for everyone and I believe that some of you still have prep work to do."

Gruber and Halsey said something to Will before they went to meet the Air Force weapons officers with the nukes. While everyone else was led through the building and given a quick tour. They had just walked into a small rec room when Truman came on the news.

"Is this live?" Faith asked no one in particular. Davis nodded as Truman started talking.

"We have a special team of astronauts that arrived in Florida this evening. NASA's in emergency launch preparation in cooperation with Russian, Japanese and French space agencies on the most massive joint space venture in history."

Faith didn't need to hear anymore, listening to whatever he told the world wasn’t going to help her any. She stepped out of the room and pressed her forehead against the cold wall.

"Faith,” Will said as he rested his hand on the small of her back. "You okay?"

She took a breath before she looked up at him. "Depends on how we're defining okay."

“I know you’re worried, sweetheart.”

“I’m a little more than worried. Watching the news doesn’t help, it kinda makes it worse. I mean, the world is ending, why don’t we just leave already? Everyone’s already asking why NASA didn’t know sooner.”

“NASA can’t see everything, budget’s not big enough.”

“I know, I didn’t mean… Sitting still was never my strongest trait. The longer we’re in lockdown, the more frustrated I get.”

“I can see that,” he said with a smile. “And yes, while Kennedy is under lockdown, there are some things we can do.” She raised an eyebrow. “Not that. We’re supposed to be under a strict quarantine so none of us get sick.”

“I’m sure they bent a lot of rules for us?”

“You have no idea. Well, they have no idea, you actually read through the policies and procedures manuals.”

“I did. That’s what happens when I’m bored.”

Will give her a long look, like he was trying to figure something out. “You wanna see something cool?"

“How cool we talking?” Faith asked.

“Very cool.” He smiled. “You in?” She nodded. “Wait with the others and I'll be right back."

“Where’s he going?” Chick asked as soon as Faith sat down next to him.

“If I knew, I’d tell you,” she said with a shrug and tried to ignore the news.

After a few minutes, the Shaw guy told the group to load into a bunch of SUVs. They all asked questions, most of which went unanswered until they were a few minutes from the Independence’s launch pads, Will and Davis were standing with some techs.

“What’s your boyfriend up to?” Oscar asked her.

“I have no idea,” Faith muttered as she hopped out of the backseat. The rest of the team following suit. “What’s up, guys?”

“So, that,” Tucker said, pointing to a large vehicle moving one of the X-71's into position, “is called the crawler.”

“On top of that,” Will said, “Is the Mobile Launch Platform. The open-air tower is the Fixed Service Structure; you'll hear FSS a lot over the next day, that's it. It has elevators and service equipment. That's how we're getting in."

Davis nodded. “As long as we stay out of the way, we can watch as they put the shuttle into position.”

“This was your something cool?” she whispered to Will.

“It was. What do you think?”

“It’s very cool. Thank you.”

 He smiled. "You are very welcome."

They all walked at chatted about the shuttles when Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her away from the group. "You picked good.” Harry looked over at Will. "I'll keep an eye on him for you."

She rolled her eyes. “I guess everyone knows.”

“I don’t know about everyone but I know because he told me.”

“Of course, he did. That sounds like something he would do. You aren't gonna chase him around with a shotgun, are you?"

Her father chuckled. "No. I don't think I'd get away with that one. Besides, he didn't have to tell me but he did anyway. Gotta respect a man who looks you in the eyes and tells you that he's in love with your daughter."

"You weren't so open when A.J. said it," Faith reminded him as they walked.

“To be fair, I did just find Grace naked in his bed,” Harry said.

“That is a good point.”

* * *

"Thought you'd spend the night with your fiancé," Faith said to her sister when she opened the door to the small room she was assigned.

Grace shook her head.  "As much as I love him, you're my sister. Can I stay?"

"Of course.” Faith smiled.

“Where’s your boyfriend?”

“I wish you guys would stop calling him that. He’s not a boy in any sense of the word.”

“Doesn’t answer my question.”

“He’s with the other pilots, some NASA stuff that the rest of us don’t have to worry about.” Faith didn't really know more than that but it wasn't important. “Come on,” she said, ushering her sister towards one of the beds, “I actually have to try to get some sleep.”

Just as they started to get settled, there was another knock at the door.

“You’re popular,” Grace said before hopping up to answer it. “Oh, hey, Dad.”

“You’re calling me dad this week?” he asked as he stepped into the room.

“Seemed appropriate,” both sisters said in unison.

“I figured you’d be with the guys,” Harry said.

“Already had that conversation,” Faith said. “We decided to do some sisterly bonding."

He chuckled. "You want me to leave?"

“Of course not,” Grace said. “Stay, it’ll be like when we were kids.”

“You mean when I’d wake up and you’d both be in my bed?” he asked.

“Yep.” Faith smiled. “It was her fault.”

“I was scared, I couldn’t help it.”

Harry chuckled at his youngest daughter. "You're both a little big for that, now."

“Please,” Faith said with a smirk, “you’re never too big to kick your dad outta his bed."

"Don't even think about it."

Grace smiled, "We wouldn't, you guys have a big day tomorrow. Bedtime." Faith and Grace took one bed while their dad took the other.

"I love you, girls."

"We love you more, dad," they replied in unison.

He chuckled, "I love you most. Go to sleep."

* * *

"Good morning."

Faith smiled as Will's presence washed over her. "Hey. How'd you sleep?"

"Like crap. I'm too keyed up,” he told her.

“Me too. Every time I drifted off, something would cross my mind and then I was awake again.”

“That’s usually how it goes.” Will sat down next to her and looking out at the shuttles, gleaming in the early morning sun. “A few more hours.”

“Then we’re off. Any regrets?"

"Only about a hundred,” he said. “Can you do me a favor and be careful?”

“I will do my very best. You better be careful too."

"Yes, ma'am."

Faith reached over and took his hand. "I wish we had more time."

"The collective 'we' or me and you?" Will asked, his eyes on their intertwined fingers.

“Both.”

"Well, there's nothing we can do about the first one. And we'll both fight like hell for the second one. Yeah?" She could hear the words that he didn't say. The promise that they were going to fight, win and come back to each other.

"Yeah."

* * *

None of them said anything as they got into their suits. There wasn't really anything to say. Faith looked around the room and smiled. No matter what happened in the next few days, this crazy bunch was never gonna be the same.

"Astronauts." She didn't know the man's name but he was one of the people who helped them get dressed. They all stepped through the door and walked into a large room.

"I'll see you in a couple days, honey," Harry said before he kissed Grace on the cheek. Her sister smiled and nodded at their father before she smiled at Faith.

"I'll get Frosty back in one piece. Love ya, Gracie," Faith told the nineteen-year-old.

The youngest Stamper hugged Faith as tight as she could. "Love you too, Faithie."

Grace let her go as A.J. walked up to the duo and took her sister's hand. Faith smiled and gave them their space. She stood next to Will; they had their goodbye -which was honestly more of a see you later- in private that morning.

"Ready, Colonel?"

“As I can be." Will gave her hand a squeeze before they moved to join the others by the hanger door.

Then, out of nowhere, A.J. started singing to her sister. Faith tried not to laugh but she failed miserably when she saw Tucker wince. The pilot looked like years had been craved off his life.

“He’s _so_ off key. If he starts that in the shuttle, I'll abandon ship."

"… _On a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again_ ," A.J. sang as Bear joined in. " _Leavin' on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again_." Then Max and Rockhound. " _Leavin' on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again_."

She shared a look with Freddy and he shrugged. "Should've picked a better song. Like ' _It's the end of the world as we know it_ …'"

"…'and I feel fine',” Faith said with a smirk.

Tucker chuckled. "Now, that's a good song even though I have no idea what half the words are."

"Nobody does,” Freddy said.

“That’s part of what makes it so fun," she agreed as Oscar managed to pull A.J. away from her sister.

Lined up and ready to go, none of them could have imagined just how many people were standing outside the hanger waiting for them. One of the NASA officials warned them that there were a lot of people outside but this was more than she was expecting. She felt like she had lead in her boots when they told them to walk to the buses that would take them to the shuttles.

"You okay?" A.J. asked over her shoulder; she gave him a small nod. But was she, really?

This wasn’t the kind of thing that she signed up for. Hell, the whole point of having a job out in the middle of the ocean, nobody really knew or cared about who you were. Now, here they were, a team of mostly anonymous people racing off to defend the planet against a giant asteroid. Faith was terrified that they were gonna fail and kill everyone on Earth. The men and women that lined their path began cheering and clapping and Faith hoped that they didn't disappoint the world.

* * *

Taking the elevator up to the shuttle hatches was more than she could describe in this lifetime. Standing between Will and Davis, she held Will’s hand as she stared at the Freedom’s sleek exterior. Even though she got to see the shuttles before everyone on the team, save the flight crew, she never really looked at them. They were impressive and, if she had more than a couple of days, she would’ve asked to see the specs.

When the door to the elevator opened, they were greeted by a man. He pointed to the left. “Freedom crew.” Then, he pointed to the right. “Independence crew."

This was it.

"How ya feelin', Faith?” her father asked as the others headed towards their shuttles.

She looked up at him. “I’m good. You know, all things considered.”

“Listen,” he said. “Once you get up there, you're gonna be on your own."

“And I will do my best to make you proud,” Faith told him.

“I’m already there,” he said with a smile before he kissed her temple and looked over her shoulder. “Hey, kid, look out for your sister."

“We’ll look out for each other,” A.J. said before he gave Harry a quick hug. “We’ll be fine.”

“I know you will,” Harry said before he followed his team to their shuttle.

“Did Harry just admit that he likes me?” her friend asked.

“I think so,” she said with a nod. “Come on."

* * *

"You alright up there, Faith?"

She took a breath as one of the technician strapped her in. "I’m good, Fred. You?"

He chuckled. "Oh, I'm just peachy. Oscar?"

"Great,” A.J.’s best friend said with a grunt. “I got that excited/scared feelin' like ninety-eight percent excited, two percent scared. Maybe more... it could be… it could be ninety-eight percent scared, two percent excited. But that's what makes it so intense, is it's so confused. I can't really figure it out." He turned his attention to the person strapping him in. "Will you make mine really tight, 'cause I don't want to fall out? I mean, almost to the point of cutting off circulation."

"At least someone is enjoying himself," Halsey muttered.

Faith smiled. "A.J., you alright?"

He gave her a subdued, "Yea."

“You sure, man?” Freddy asked.

“If I wasn’t, there’s nothing anyone could do about it,” A.J. pointed out. “Bear?”

"I'm just ready to go, man," the big guy muttered as the techs left the shuttle and sealed them in. Faith could understand that.

After waiting a while, Faith's earpiece crackled to life as Shaw’s voice sounded in their ears. “Independence and Freedom, this is Kennedy firing room. We're T minus one minute. All crew members, close and lock your visors."

"Independence, this is launch control. Be advised, we're in a smooth count. T minus 31. You're go for auto-sequence start," another man said. Stuff on the shuttle started to kick.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen,” Truman said from Texas, “you're our warriors up there. God be with you. You're already heroes. Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"Easy for him to say," Freddy grumbled. She chuckled at her friend but didn't say anything. Faith listened to the chatter on the radio and took a deep breath.

"We're T minus 20 seconds," Shaw's voice returned. She started counting down in her head, at ten, launch control started counting out loud. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One."

The shuttle started to roar and rumble. Tucker notified Kennedy that the main engine started.

"We have booster ignition," that was CAPCOM in Houston. Will introduced her to the guy that morning but she couldn't recall his name.

"We're cooking, Houston,” Davis said. Faith wanted to close her eyes but she couldn't as they lifted off the ground. When they got to the right altitude, she heard Davis again. "Starting roll maneuver."

"Independence, we have max cue," CAPCOM again.

Tucker took a breath. "Roger, Control. We are a max cue… S.R.B. sep… We are single-engine, press to MECO."

Faith let out a breath as Houston acknowledged, "Copy, Independence press to MECO."

"Houston, this is a kick-ass ride!" Faith had to agree with Davis, as scary as this all was, she was having a blast.

"This is Independence, Main Engine Cut Out on schedule. Out," Tucker told the people on the ground back in Texas.

Houston came on the radio, "Independence, telemetry is up and running."

Faith couldn't believe her eyes. "Oh, my God."

"This is space! 'Course, we're just in the beginning part of space. We… We haven't gotten to outer space yet," Oscar said to them.

Faith shook her head, "Shut up, Oscar and enjoy the view."


	8. You Gotta See This to Believe It

"Alright, guys, remember the Russian space station has been up there for eleven years. Most of us don't have cars that old. Now, the cosmonaut on board has been on that tin can for eighteen months, alone. So, don't be surprised if he's a little... off," Truman told them over the intercom.

"Sounds like he'll fit right in," Faith said with a chuckle.

"Let's get out of these flight suits," Davis said. Except Tucker, who was flying they shuttle, everyone unstrapped and headed towards the crew area to change out of their flight gear.

Davis told them all what they needed to do, helping both Faith and Freddy out of their suits before they helped him with his. She liked Davis, he was like that cool uncle who showed up with kickass stories.

Faith quickly pulled the long-sleeved Independence shirt over her tank top and pulled her boots on, tucking her pants into them before gliding –gotta love zero gravity- back to her seat and checking on everyone. "You alright, Frosty?" He nodded but didn't say anything as he passed her to change. "You guys are such softies."

"Can it, you," Freddy said without opening his eyes. She patted his head and looked everyone else over. Oscar didn't look so bad, neither did Bear. A.J. was a little green around the gills but not overly so.

"Just relax, Fred," she told her best friend.

"Trying, Faith," he muttered. "Trying."

"You're gonna have to do more than try," Tucker said. "There's the space station." He pointed out the window as it became larger and larger. They got there a lot faster than she thought they would. "We're about to dock. The Russian space station has fired her rockets to give us a little gravity, let us work faster. It's gonna make you queasy."

"That sounds fun," Oscar said as they all buckled back into their seats and watched as Davis and Tucker lined the shuttle up to the space station. They switched to manual override and she knew that their movements were all them. She could hear NASA counting down how far they were but it was so much cooler to watch. There was a clanking sound, followed by a hissing sound.

"Locks are engaged," Tucker said.

"Let's go, Independence," Davis said before ordering them to follow him. "Watch your heads."

"This place is a dump," she mumbled as they stepped out of their shuttle and into this place.

"That you're professional opinion?" Halsey asked.

She nodded. "Actually, it is. I got tools in better shape than this place."

She glanced at Will and smiled, he gave her a wink before looking around. "Where is he? Anybody home?"

"Welcome, everybody!" Colonel Lev Andropov dropped from the ceiling and looked at them. "I am not gas station. This is sophisticated laboratory. I'm in charge. So, do not be touching anything. I need one… I need you." The crazy Russian pointed at A.J.

"Go with him," Will said with a nod.

"I need you. Hurry up. Hurry up. Come on. Come on." A.J. glanced at her before following Andropov. The colonels followed A.J. and the Russian as the rest of them got set up.

"Okay," Bear said, "let's connect these fuel lines." Faith and the guys went into motion, getting the lines ready for fuel transfer.

"Freedom on the left, Independence on the right," Max told them. Faith and Freddy went one way while Chick and Rock went the other to hook up the hoses.

"Tucker, we have hard lock," Faith informed the pilot as soon as her line was sealed.

"Roger that, Stamper." She made her way back to the main part of the space station where everyone else seemed to be.

"We're ready to transfer," Will yelled into the fuel pod.

"I'm coming," Andropov yelled back. "No problem." He hit some commands. "Ready for transfusion!" There was some hissing before Andropov looked at them. "Fuel is pumping."

"You okay?" Will asked quietly.

"Yea. A little antsy." She smiled. "I can't pin it down but I'll feel better when we get out of here."

He nodded. "You and me both."

They were pulled from their conversation by Lev yelling at Rock. "Don't touch my uncle. You know? He's a genius of my family. He used to work for a big bomb factory. He used to make the tip of the bomb, the thing that finds, uh, New York or Washington, you know?"

"Ooh," Rockhound muttered.

"Guys," Watts said, walking over, "check your hoses. We got some thermal variation. Harry, let's look at the couplings, back on the shuttle."

"Yea, Harry… the couplings," Faith whispered to her dad.

"Watch it or I'll show Sharp your baby pictures," her father warned.

"Go ahead. I was a cute baby," she said. Then something on the station made a grinding sound.

"What's that noise?" Will asked the cosmonaut.

"Oh, no!" Andropov looked at the gauges. "God!"

"What is it?" Faith asked.

"Leak! Leak! Get your men back to the shuttle!" he exclaimed. "Go! Go! Hurry up!"

"EVERYBODY EVAC NOW!" Will shouted.

"A.J.!" She ran to catch up with Andropov, who was now yelling at A.J. to pull the lever.

"THIS IS THE LEVER!" her brother yelled back, holding up a piece of metal.

Faith didn't realize that Will and Davis were behind her until Andropov looked over her shoulder. "Colonel, we must get him out of there!"

She leaned over the fuel pod. "A.J., bail out! Hurry!"

"Hurry! Hurry!" Will said from next to her. "We gotta get him outta there."

They were all shouting as A.J. climbed the ladder, then an explosion blew them all back. Faith felt like her chest was gonna cave in.

"No! A.J.!" she called out. "A.J.!"

"We gotta move, now," Davis said, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her away. She didn't have it in her to fight with him. "Come on! Close the hatch!"

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Chick yelled as she helped Davis seal them off from the fuel pod. "We got a man in there!"

"Guys." Faith looked up and caught the flames on the ceiling. Since fires need oxygen, there was nowhere for it to go, except to follow the lines back to the shuttles. She reached over and grabbed the front of his jacket. "Will, look."

He followed her line of sight. "Fuel leak!"

"Evac now! Davis called. "Let's go! Let's go."

"Where's A.J.?" Harry asked, meeting them between the two shuttles.

"A.J.'s gone!" Will said, pushing both Faith and Harry towards Freedom.

"What do mean A.J.'s gone?" her dad yelled. "We're not leavin' without A.J.!"

"Dad, we gotta go!" He fought with them and Faith had to help push him towards the shuttle. "Go, Dad. GO!"

"Everybody strap in. Watts, gimme full thrust," Will said as Chick and Gruber shut the airlock. It took Faith half a second to realize that she was in the wrong place. Will must've realized it too. "It's a hundred and fifty feet away, you won't make it in time. Strap in."

She dropped into the seat next to her father and buckled herself into the harness.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Colonel! Fire's still comin'. We gotta move!" Chick yelled as they peeled off.

"Freedom to Independence," Watts said, glancing back at her, "we have your Stamper."

"Copy that Freedom. That means the Independence crew is accounted for. We're even heavy one cosmonaut. Tell Faith we're gonna miss her over here," Davis' voice came over the radio.

"Looks like you're with the old guys, monkey," Chick said to her.

"Looks like," she said. "You okay, dad?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, I'm alright."

"Gruber, she burned her arm. Check her over," Will instructed from his seat. Faith looked down and realized that her left arm was bright red and now that she noticed it, it started to hurt like a bitch.

"When the hell did I do that?"

"When you helped Davis with the hatch." Will looked at her for a long moment before turning his attention back to flying the shuttle.

Gruber pulled out the first aid kit and began fixing her arm. "Let's see what we can do about this."

* * *

"You sure you're okay?"

"I thought he died." Faith looked at Will as he floated into the cargo area. "I promised Grace…"

"You promised that you'd get him back to her." He pulled her into a hug. "That you would keep him safe." She nodded against his chest. "That's not something you can guarantee. It's not something any of us can guarantee."

"I know," she whispered. "You do know that pushing me onto your shuttle is cheating, right?"

"Is not," he said with a chuckle. "It was an emergency."

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Colonel."

"I plan to." Will kissed her head. "You should get some sleep."

"Easier said than done."

"You can bunk with me. It'll be tight but Max fits in the bunk, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"Pretty sure the cat's outta the bag anyway," she said. He gave her a look. "Not that it was a secret or anything, I'm just more private than my sister and A.J."

"So, if I decided to serenade you in the middle of a hanger?"

"You would never," Faith said.

"You're right, I wouldn't. I can't carry a tune to save my life," Will said.

"That makes two of us." She smiled. "Come on, we better go get some sleep while we can."

* * *

"Morning, guys. It's time to suit up, I guess. Uh, we got a big day," Truman told them over the radio. Sixty hours had come and gone rather fast, all things considered. Faith was wearing Watts' D.A.T. suit and strapped in next to her dad, behind Will.

"Booster sequence confirmed," Watts said as she entered in some commands. This is the part she was dreading, they were gonna be out of contact with Houston.

"Stand by for lunar roll," Will told them.

Watts nodded. High inclination. Lunar orbit."

"Everyone got those wills filled out correctly?" her father asked.

Faith looked at him. "Not funny, Harry."

"You trained for this," Will told them. "Just remember to breathe."

"On my mark," Watts said. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." With the flick of a switch, they shot around the moon like a bullet.

They all listened as Will and Watts yelled out their speeds. Faith didn't pay attention, she was too busy trying to breathe. It was so heavy, like an elephant sitting on your chest.

"Eight G's, hand tight," Will called out.

"We're not gonna make it!" Max yelled

"Oh, we're gonna die!" was Rockhound.

They both needed to relax and breathe like the pilots told them too. They were wasting air by yelling stupid shit. Yes, it hurt to have that much pressure on their chests but it would ease up soon enough.

"We're maxed at 22,500!" Will informed them as the rattling stopped, the shuttle slowed and the pressure faded.

"That fuckin' sucked," she muttered before taking a deep breath.

Harry nodded. "No kidding."

"We have visual of the target, Houston," Will told control.

"Faithie, you see that?" her father asked.

"Yeah, Harry, I see it." She was in awe; this thing was beautiful. It was hell bent on killing everything but still beautiful

"Houston, you gotta see this to believe it," Will said, the wonder in his voice mirroring her own. After a couple seconds, he flicked a switch. "FOD radar on."

"You guys might want to hang on. We're going in," Watts warned.

"Goddamn! We got debris," Will said.

Watts nodded. "We're dumping auxiliary boosters."

They seemed to be okay, then Faith heard the one thing she never wanted to hear. "We're hit!" It was Davis. "Mayday, mayday!"

"No. No. No," Faith whispered. Harry reached over as they all listened.

"Mayday, Houston, mayday! We've lost R.C.S. thrusters! Mayday, Freedom, mayday! We are out of control! We are going down! Do you read me? Freedom, we are going down!" Davis called into the comm system. Faith closed her eyes, she didn't want to see, she didn't want to be here. She couldn't help but listen. "Everybody, go to your own life support! Lock yourself in the cargo bay! We are going down! Houston! Houston, we are going down! We have lost control! Good luck, Freedom."

After Davis, she heard Tucker, "Oh, my God, this is it."

"Sharp, what the hell is that? ls that the Independence?" Harry yelled.

"Houston, Independence is a dead stick. They're not gonna make it. Houston, Independence has gone down." Faith felt her heart break at Will's words. She never got to say goodbye. She was supposed to be with them. "When I touch this baby down, full reverse thrust," she barely registered Will talking.

Watts was still going too. "Fires on your right, Sharp!"

"Reversing the thrusters! Hang tight! Hang tight! Houston, we overshot our landing field. We overshot our landing field," Will informed Houston. Then he landed them, hard. Everything was silent for a moment. The only thing Faith could hear was herself breathing.

"Initiate system check. Make sure we can still get off this rock," Will told Watts.

The other pilot nodded. "Our electrical system is screwed. I'm going to back-up. Fuel seals check. Engine seals check. Pressure seals check."

"Anyone hurt?" Will asked them as he unstrapped.

Rockhound couldn't help himself. "Where's… Where's the other shuttle? What happened to the other shuttle?"

Will walked past her, touching her shoulder as he did. She wasn't sure if it was for her benefit or his own but she didn't care. Faith could hear the shock in his voice. "Independence is off the grid."

"'Off the grid?' What are you, a fuckin' cyborg? What does that mean?" She wanted Rock to just shut up.

Gruber looked at her before looking at Rock. "Hey, you saw it yourself, right? They're gone."

"Let's just ask God to take care of our friends," Harry said. "May they rest in peace."

"Amen," Chick muttered.

Faith slowly unstrapped and stood on shaky legs as her dad looked around at the group.

"We got eight hours. Let's get this job done and go home. We gotta get the tools unpacked and fire up the Armadillo," Harry told them.

"I'm not getting a damn thing on the inertial nav system," Will said before he glanced at her.

"I know where we are," Rock said, pushing his way past Will.

"Please step away," Will said. "Radio signal's dead."

"I'm flipping the backup generator," Watts told them. "Radio signal's gonna be cut in half till we get main power back."

Rockhound rolled his eyes. "We're in segment 202, lateral grid nine, site 15-H dash 32, give or take a few yards. Captain America here blew the landing by 26 miles."

"How the hell do you know that?" Will asked him.

"Faith's not the only genius, she just fills out the flight suit better than the rest of us," he declared. Everyone in the shuttle glanced at her before they turned their attention back to the pilots.

Watts looked around the room. "The gauges will not read. They're all peaked, like we're plugged into some magnetic field."

"It's the ferrite," Faith said quietly, gaining everyone's attention again. "It's why we were shooting for grid eight, thermographics indicated that grid nine was basically an iron plate." It's something that had her, Rock, Oscar and Quincy worried before they even left Texas.

"Congrats, Colonel. Good job. Great job. We're…" Rock started but she didn't have the patience for him anymore.

"Shut the fuck up, Rock. In case you didn't notice, he got us on the ground in one piece. I'm supposed to be on the other shuttle. You know, the one that just crashed and took half my family with it. You wanna stand here bitching and moaning, be my guest. I'm gonna make sure my friends didn't die for no fucking reason." Grabbing her helmet, she passed the now quiet geologist. "I'll wheel out the remote satellite link. Gruber, suit up."

"Yes, ma'am," the munitions specialist said with a nod. She could hear Will giving orders to everyone else but tuned them out.

Wisely, nobody dared to say anything else to her about landing sites or shuttle crashes. Faith was likely to hit anyone who did and they all knew it. She had just gotten the remote sat gear unloaded and onto the ramp when the guys joined her. They took it to the surface and Harry looked around.

"Down here. ln the valley," her dad called out.

"This is gonna suck," she muttered. Will and Gruber looked at her as she helped them push the large piece of equipment up a short ridge.

"How you figure?" Gruber asked her.

"Iron's hard to drill on a good day," Faith said with a sigh.

Gruber nodded. "You okay? About your friends, I mean?"

"No. But I have a job to do, can't worry about it now." Will touched her shoulder as they worked, Faith could almost swear that she felt his warmth.

"I have fire," Gruber told them as the remote satellite system booted up.

Will looked up. "Watts, I'm comin' back. Stand by."

"We couldn't've picked a worse spot to drill," Rock said.

"Well, I can pretty much guarantee it's not gonna be thicker than 50 feet," Harry told him.

Chick looked at her dad. "How do you figure that?"

"'Cause if it is, we're fucked," Faith said with a chuckle.

"Max, you good?" Harry asked the Armadillo operator.

"Yeah, boss. Just makin' hole," Max said. "Friggin' outer space."

Faith looked at the Earth from where she was standing. "I hope we get back to her."

Gruber looked over her shoulder. "We'll get there."

* * *

"There's some stuff in here I ain't never seen before." Harry doesn't say something like that often. He's seen a lot in all the decades he's been drilling.

"Hey, Harry, did you see that?" Max asked.

Her father looked at the 'dillo. " Yeah, Max, I see it. I see it. What is it?"

"Bet we twisted a shank," Faith said from her spot next to Chick. Her dad had Max back the drill bit out and sure enough, she was right.

"Wow, this is a goddamn Greek tragedy." Rock got his face near the drill bit.

Harry looked at them. "We've all seen broken drill heads before."

"Not after ten feet," Chick pointed out. That's exactly what she was thinking.

Rockhound shook his head. "I never seen one."

"Well, now you've seen one," her father told the group.

She looked at Harry. "What do you want, dad?"

"Unpack the Judge." It's big and mean but damn if it wasn't one hell of a piece of equipment.

She helped Chick get it set up. "Alright, get ready. Max, thread it, buddy."

"Guys, the clock is tickin'. Let's go, go, go, go, go!" Max called from the 'dillo. Harry was keeping them focused. Faith was moving faster than she thought she would in this suit and with an injured arm.

She moved next to her dad, who directed the guys on what to do. "Alright! Good! Crank it loose! Keep it at 25. Let's kick this asteroid's ass."

"All right, Chick. Give me more torque on the turbine, huh?" Max said.

"Max, I need some more power down here!" Harry called.

The big man kept going. "All right, boss."

"You wanna call it?" Harry asked her.

"Max," Faith said, "throw it in fourth, then drop the hammer. Let's drill through this thing. Come on, boys. We gotta push it. We're fallin' behind."

"Dig, dig, dig. Chew this iron bitch up," Harry told them. After a few minutes, Harry looked at his best friend. "Chick, the tranny's stuck."

She glanced up at Max when he called for her father. "Harry!"

"Max, release the clutch, man," Faith instructed.

"Pull it up!" Harry called. They all looked at each other as realization dawned.

"Okay. Well, this thing's not movin'," Chick muttered just as the console exploded and sent them both flying. "You alright, monkey?"

"I'm good," she groaned. "Dad, this isn't working." She pushed herself up. "We blew the fuckin' tranny already."

"Yeah." Her father sighed. "Come on, God. Just a little help. That's all I'm askin'." Faith closed her eyes, maybe if she prayed with him, it would help.

"I think we're close enough," Max whispered. "He might've heard ya."

"Faith, Chick, with me." They nodded at Harry and followed him into the shuttle. "Let's get it unpacked," Harry told them.

"What's up?" Will asked.

Harry glanced at him. "We're drilling through some kind of metal I've never seen before. It's fried two of our drill bits and now we blew our first transmission."

"So, how deep are we?" Will asked.

"We could use your help with this, Colonel," Harry said, avoiding the question.

"I have an assessment report due now," Will told them. "We're supposed to be at 200 feet. So, how deep are we?"

"Not as deep as we'll be when you quit askin' me these questions and help us load this transmission on," Harry said.

Faith rolled her eyes, they didn't have time for this. "We're at 57 feet." They both looked at her. "Will, we got this, you just gotta let us do it."

Harry took a breath. "Now, if you're not too busy, maybe you can give us a hand with this transmission." Will walked right past her dad. "Colonel Sharp! Get this strapped up. I'll be right back. Colonel Sharp!"

Faith and Chick did what her dad asked as he went looking for Will. They both looked up as the shouting started.

"You aren't gonna help him?" Chick asked.

"The stubborn oil driller or the stubborn Air Force pilot?"

Chick chuckled. "Either?"

"They don't need my help." They finished strapping down the tranny when she heard a beep. She looked at Chick.

He glanced at her before looking over that the bomb again. "Harry… the clock on that 9 foot nuclear weapon is ticking." Faith closed her eyes, she was having a fucking nightmare… that was it, a nightmare.

"Will, Secondary Protocol!" she yelled.

He came flying into the room calling the bomb expert over the radio, "Gruber, get in here, double time." Will looked at her. "Help me open this thing." She nodded and grabbed the electric screwdriver.

"You know what's going on?" Harry asked her.

"It's a surface detonation activated from Earth, complements of Kimsey and the President," she told him.

"You didn't say anything?" Harry looked at her and she could see the hurt on his face.

"Officially, she doesn't know," Will said. "I wasn't supposed to tell her. My orders are to shoot you if you tried to stop the detonation."

"Then why are you trying to stop it?" Chick asked.

"Why do you think?" Will countered, glancing at Faith just as Gruber took her spot. "She's the only person on your team with a chance of disarming it. I'd rather shoot myself."

Harry smiled in spite of himself. "You got this?"

"We got it," Gruber said. "Idiots on the ground keep ignoring Quincy. He's the smartest man on the planet for a fuckin' reason."

Harry, Faith, Chick and Watts watched as they quickly dismantled the bomb. Gruber looked at Will. "Red or blue?"

The pilot took a breath. "I don't know… Faith, pick one."

"Blue," she said quietly. He winked before he cut the wire and the beeping stopped.

"Blue, huh?" he asked her.

"It's the eyes," Faith said.

He chuckled and kissed her head. "Nice choice, Miss Stamper."

"I aim to please, Colonel."


	9. It Was Always Gonna End This Way

"Houston? Houston, do you copy?" They were all standing around Harry as he raised mission control.

"Go ahead, Freedom."

They were all pissed about almost getting blown up by their own people but her dad, more so. The government asked them to do this and literally sent all but one member of their family on this trip. It wasn't too much to ask for them to let their team do the job they were sent to do.

"Houston, you have a problem. See, I promised my little girl that I'd be comin' home. Now, I don't know what you people are doin' down there, but we got a hole to dig up there." He picked up his helmet and looked at them. "We got work to do."

Faith smiled as they all moved to get back to their tasks. The change in dynamic was an obvious one, the control shifting from Will to her father with nothing more than a look. Both Will and Gruber did whatever was asked of them, knowing that they were short on time and all hands were necessary. Well, almost all hands.

"Okay, guys," Rock said. "I guess it's all go, no quit."

Faith rolled her eyes as she, Chick and Gruber moved to set up the new transmission. "How about you do some work, Rockhound?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said. "How ya doin' down there? You good?"

"Got the tranny," Chick said. "We're back in business."

"Hey, you guys should take a break and come up and see this. Wow. Got a great view of the Earth from here. Too bad we'll never set foot on her again," Rock told them.

"Speak for yourself," Faith told him. "I'm goin' home."

* * *

Rockhound was getting weirder and weirder with each passing moment. For a while, Faith didn't think anything of it, Rock was insane on a good day, but there was something about his demeanor that worried her. As long as he did his job, she had no problem with leaving him alone, problem was, he wasn't doing his job.

"Yee-ha!" Rock exclaimed. Everyone outside the shuttle looked at him. He was sitting on the bomb and riding it like he was at a damn rodeo. "Ride 'em, cowboy! Yippee-kai-yo, kai-yay!"

"He's fucking nuts," Gruber muttered.

Will was standing next to her. "Rockhound. Get off... the nuclear... warhead."

"I was doin' that guy from that movie, you know, Slim Pickens, where he rides it all the way in, the nuclear warhead," Rock told them.

"Now," Will ordered. Faith looked at him and she wasn't sure if she should be amused or turned on. Will in colonel mode is very sex.

"Oh, you didn't see that one, huh?" Rock smiled. "It's good movie." She shook her head.

"We got six hundred feet of hole to dig, Rockhound," Harry said in an attempt to get Rock to focus on their mission.

"All right, Harry. Just wanted to feel the power between my legs, brother," Rock said before looking Faith and Will's direction. "Hey, Sharp. No nukes! No nukes! No nukes!" Rock danced around.

"Is that gun in the safe loaded?" Faith asked.

"Can be in about half a second," Will told her. "You want me to get it?"

"We might have to shoot him."

"Want the honors?"

She smiled. "Do I ever."

* * *

"Rockhound, keep on that transmission," Harry ordered. She glanced at the man in question.

"Tranny looks good, Harry."

Her father nodded, "Alright." Faith, Chick, Will and Gruber were getting another pipe on the line. "Lock it down, guys. Good job."

"How come we didn't get any training on this thing?" She heard Rockhound ask. Faith glanced around for him.

"Uh, Dad…" she said just as Rockhound started shooting the gun that was mounted on the Armadillo. They only had the damn thing to clear out stuff that was in their way but now they didn't need it.

"Faith, get his attention," her father told her.

"Rock," she called. "What are you doing, man?"

"I'm gonna take this bitch out," Rock said as he kept shooting.

"You know that won't work, right?" she asked just as Harry snuck around Rock and tackled him.

" What the hell's the matter with you?" Harry asked. "Goddamn!"

"This is insane," Will said. "He's got space dementia."

"What's the protocol for that?" she asked Gruber but before he could tell her, there was a loud hiss. She looked up at the Armadillo. "Max, I need you to downshift and put it in reverse." She could tell that the pipe was stuck but that was not the most pressing problem.

"Uh, Faithie. What's happening?" Max asked as his eyes locked with hers.

"The ground's cracking," Will muttered.

"Earthquake!" Chick yelled, just as everything went to hell.

"Max," Harry yelled. "Quick, shut it off! Shut it off!"

"Dad! We're gonna have a blowout!" she called.

"I know, we hit a gas pocket!" Harry said.

"We got pressure out the ass!" Max called. He needed to bail out, fast.

"Max, get your helmet on! She's gonna blow!" Harry was still trying to get him out.

"Ah! Oh, Jesus, I'm cooking!"

She looked up. "Max, bail! Come on!"

"That's it. I'm out," Max said as he looked at her and Harry through the glass but it was too late. The Armadillo got launched right off the ground.

"MAX!" Harry screamed for their friend. "MAX!"

Then, as if nothing happened, everything settled.

"Goodbye, Max," Rock whispered. "Take care, buddy."

For a long moment, they didn't say anything. What was there to say? Max was gone. The drill was gone. Faith looked at her dad. "Dad. What… what do we do now?"

He looked at her. "Get ahold of Truman. Prepare the world for bad news."

"Guess what, guys? It's time to embrace the horror," Rock said. "Look. We got front-row tickets to the end of the Earth."

"Just because you don't give a fuck about anybody but yourself doesn't mean that that's how the rest of us feel. There are six billion people down there," Faith said. "Grace and Will's daughters and Chick's son... " She closed her eyes and leaned against the fissure she was standing next to. "We failed."

"Maybe not. Maybe… We can still drop the bomb in the hole…" Will offered, his eyes meeting hers. They were fighting for a lot of things, including time. Time that they spent passing by each other without even realizing it. Time that he missed out on with his kids. Time that she missed while on the rig. Time that they'll never get now.

"Won't do any good," Gruber said. "We'd take chunk outta this thing and that's it."

That's when they heard the most beautiful sound: static. Not that Faith liked static but, in this case, it was someone on their frequency and the only people here came in on two shuttles. Someone from the other shuttle made it and they had to be close.

"Are those…?" Chick pointed at one of the ridges and, sure enough, there were lights.

"YEAH!" Her father yelled.

"Way to go, baby!" Bear exclaimed and she'd never been happier to hear him in all her life.

"Harry!" A.J. called.

"Yo, Harry! What's up, baby?" Bear called.

"Guess we're not done after all," Gruber said with a smile as the vehicle made it's way to their site. When it stopped, Bear hopped out.

"Yo, Harry! Hey, baby girl."

"You're late, Papa Bear!"

"Traffic." He smiled that big smile at her before letting someone else out. The Russian, Lev.

A.J. popped up behind him. "Hey, Harry. You miss me?"

"A.J. I got just five words for ya; Damn glad to see ya, boy!" Harry said.

"That's six words," A.J. said.

"You made me cry, Frosty," she said. "I'm kicking your ass when we get back."

"Love you too. Freddy, uh, he didn't…"

"We'll talk about it later," Faith said, cutting off what she already knew about their friend. "We got work to do."

"You got it, boss lady," he said. "Now, where's this you need dug?"

"Chick," Harry called, "walk 'em down." The veteran driller nodded before he started leading A.J. to the hole. "Faith, where do you need me?"

"I…"

"That's your rig and your driver, makes you the boss."

"I was helping Chick," she said with a smile.

"Got it." Her dad flashed her a smile and got back to work.

She took a breath and turned her attention to the Armadillo. "All right, A.J. You ready? We gotta go fast."

"Born ready," he said.

"What I like to hear, Frosty. Bring her down. We got two hundred fifty feet to go. It's our last transmission, last drill head."

"Got it, boss lady. I'm punchin' through. First gear." There was a pause. "And we got contact."

"All right, man, let's show this bitch who's boss." It was like new life was breathed into all of them.

* * *

"How deep are we, Frosty?" Faith asked.

He glanced in her direction. "Seven seventy."

They were almost there, just 30 more feet and they were as good as done. They could put the bomb in the hole, fly away and save Earth. At least, that's what she was thinking until she heard the ground rumble. Not this shit again.

"Harry, he needs to back it out," Chick said. Harry, Will, Bear and Gruber all looked in Faith and A.J.'s direction.

Her dad nodded. "It's methane. Shut it down! Back it down!"

"No," she said plainly. They were not going to make if they stopped now. A.J. could break through but everyone just had to trust her.

"Faith…" her dad started.

"If he backs out now, the bit'll get lodged and we don't have time for that."

Chick looked at them. "It's gonna blow!"

"It's how we lost Max!" Harry said.

"I know, I was here. We got this."

"Harry, it's gonna blow!" Chick warned.

Faith looked at her father. "Dad, I know what I'm doin', you taught me how to do it. You just gotta me. And him."

"Your call, sweetheart," Harry said after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"Alright, it's just you and me, A.J. Let's take it home," she said. "Gimme a depth."

"Seven seventy-five," A.J. said. "Seven eighty."

"Come on, Frosty," Faith muttered.

"You guys got it," her dad said. "Come on.

"How far, brother?" Bear asked.

A.J. looked at her through the glass. "Seven eighty-five."

"Come on. Come on," Will muttered from behind her.

"Ninety-one. Come on. Seven ninety-two. Seven ninety-five!" A.J. said. They were so close, just a few more. "Seven ninety-seven! Ninety-nine!"

"Breakthrough!" Faith yelled.

"Eight hundred! Eight-oh-two, Faithie!" A.J. called. "We did it."

"Fuck yea! We did it!" she said as the guys all stated cheering.

" Way to go, you two!" Harry said.

A.J. smiled. "I knew it, baby!"

"Hate to break the party up," Faith said, "but we're not done yet."

"Still gotta set the bomb up," Will said. "We have," he paused to get a time check, "thirty-eight minutes."

"Let's start getting those pipes out of that hole, fellas," Faith said.

"That's what she said," Rock quipped from his spot, duct tapped to a chair on the shuttle.

Harry shook his head. "Quiet, Rock."

* * *

"It's stuck. Who wants to go down?" Chick asked. They made quick work of getting the pipes out until one got lodged.

"I'm the smallest, I'll go," Faith offered.

He nodded. "Let's get you tethered."

"Guys, I need that hole," Will called over to them from where he and Gruber were prepping the bomb.

Harry glanced at Will, "Gimme a minute. We got a bent pipe jammed down there and we gotta cut it out before we can send that bomb down."

"We got ya, monkey," Chick said, handing her the saw.

As she began the climb down, Faith could almost feel the space getting smaller and smaller. It was a good thing she went; A.J. was probably the only other person who could fit.

"Faith, come on! Make it fast!" he dad called down.

"Goin' as fast as I can! There's a lot of gas pressure!" Faith found the bent pipe and began sawing at the bend so they could pull it out. She was almost through when she felt it.

"You feel that?" Harry asked someone, she wasn't sure who. What she did know is that question and this trip did not go together.

"Harry, you gotta give me that hole. The bomb is almost ready," Will told her father.

"Pull that pipe out!" Harry ordered

"Give me 15 more seconds!" Faith could feel the walls around her rumbling.

"Well, this is somethin' new," she heard Chick mutter. Faith had to get out of here, right now.

"I don't think this thing likes us." Her dad sounded scared, more scared than he had been.

"That's 'cause it knows we're here to kill it," Chick replied. "Whoa!" That didn't sound good.

She heard some crashes and some medal clanking. "Hey, what's goin' on up there?"

"Faith!" Harry screamed for her just as another rumble when through the walls.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"Monkey, you gotta come up," Chick told her.

"Goddamn it, I'm finished!" Faith could feel someone tugging on her line. "There's a lotta pressure in here. Pull me up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hydrogen pocket!" Harry yelled just before the damn thing blew her straight into the air. It would've been okay if someone had her line.

"Dad!" This was not good, not good at all.

"I got her! Hang on, Faith!" A.J. said, catching her tether.

"Pull me in."

"Working on it, hang on," he said with a grunt. Debris hit the line and sent Faith tumbling to the ground. Of course, that's where all the trouble was.

She heard Will yell at Gruber to secure the bomb. Gruber yelled back, "Sharp, heads up!"

"Gruber! Get outta there now!" Bear called just as the munitions specialist went flying. Shit.

"Oh, God, no! Dad, look out!" she called. Harry and Chick hit the deck just as a boulder as big as the Armadillo went flying past them.

"Do you believe that just happened?" Harry asked. Chick shook his head at the question. "Faith, you okay, honey?"

"Yea, dad," she breathed, "I'm okay." She looked around as her dad called for each of them.

"Sharp, you alright?" Harry asked.

"I'm okay," Will said. Faith let out the breath she was holding.

"Bear, A.J.?" her dad continued. They were both in one piece.

She looked over when Harry got to Gruber. "He's dead, guys," she muttered. "Gruber's dead."

"Let's get that bomb ready and go home," Harry told the group. They all pushed themselves back towards the shuttle.

"Thanks for the save, Frosty," Faith said.

"You would've done the same for me," he replied. "It wouldn't have been as cool but still."

"I can live with that," she told him. "Let's get back to Gracie, huh?"

A.J. nodded. "I'm down with that."

"Oh, my God." Will looked up at her and motioned her over. Faith didn't know much about the bomb, just the little bit she learned thanks to a crash course from Gruber. Though, she could tell they were in trouble just by the look on Will's face.

"Is there a problem, Colonel?" Harry asked. Problem was a bit of an understatement.

"The timer, the remote, the whole thing's dead," Will said.

A.J. looked them, "What, the bomb is dead?"

"No." Faith looked up from the mangled metal. "Bomb's fine. The trigger's dead."

Will nodded. "It must've gotten damaged during the rock storm."

"How do we detonate it?" Harry asked. Faith and Will looked at each other, "Faith?"

"Manually," she told him.

"Let's get this in the hole and sort it out on the shuttle," Will said. They all pitched in to get the bomb in the hole; Will attached a line to it. If Faith had to guess, it was the cable to attach the manual detonator. Then they all when into the cargo hold.

"It takes two people to fly this thing. Either we all stay and die, or you guys draw straws." Will came up with a logical solution but something gnawed at Faith.

"I say we all stay and die. But that's me." Rockhound is really is crazy.

A.J. shrugged. "I'll draw. Let's draw."

"Nobody's gonna draw straws. I'll stay and take care of it." Harry said. She looked at her father; he was calm and the set in his shoulders told her that it wasn't really up for debate.

"Well, I can't live with that sort of thing," Chick said.

Harry looked at his best friend, his brother. "Nobody asked you if you could live with it, alright?"

"Bullshit! No way I will let you volunteer for this so I can go back to my home country like the man who didn't volunteer. No way!" Lev yelled.

Bear looked at them. "Hey, man, let's draw, and let's see who's gonna stay up here and dance."

Rock looked at her before he looked at everyone else. "Guys, I know you guys think I'm crazy right now, but I would really like this responsibility."

"What's the point?" Faith asked. They all looked at her. "We all know dad isn't gonna let one of us stay, doesn't matter who gets the short straw." She looked at Harry. "It was always gonna end this way, wasn't it?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah."

Faith figured it out the same time that she told him to let A.J. keep drilling. All this time, she thought he was questioning her because he didn't trust her but he was questioning her to make sure she trusted herself. He needed to see her lead, even if it meant going against him. He signed over the company, gave his approval of Will and let her take charge. He knew he was gonna die on this trip. Realization dawned on the faces of the others. Everyone, save Lev, knew that you couldn't talk Harry Stamper out of something if he set his head to it. It's what made him who he is.

"This is the best option. I got you guys into this, it's only right that I finish it," her father told them. For a moment, the only sounds in the cargo hold were from the shuttle itself.

"It's been a wild ride, brother." Chick hugged Harry. "I'll keep an eye on your girls."

"You take care of that little boy. Beg Denise if you have to," Harry said. Bear moved in next, he didn't say anything, just hugged his boss.

"Well, if I wasn't strapped down…" Rockhound quipped.

Harry chuckled. "Behave, Rock."

Their crazy friend nodded. "I'll try."

"Always thought of you as a son, A.J. Always. I'd be damn proud to have you marry Grace. You take care of my little girl and yourself. I love you, son."

"I love you too, Harry." A.J. had tears running down his face as her dad hugged him.

Harry looked at Will. "She's stubborn as hell but you figured that out already."

"Family trait, apparently," Will said with a smile.

"She loves you, you know," Harry said. "Take care of her, Sharp."

The pilot nodded. "I will."

Faith looked at her dad, who smiled and tugged the end of her braid. "I remember when you taught me how to do that to Grace's hair. I kept wondering what I was gonna do without you to help me take care of her when you left for college. You never complained, you just took care of your sister. The guys. Me. It's time to take care of yourself."

"You know, I just copied you when I couldn't figure something out. You always do the right thing," she told him. "I am so proud to be your daughter."

"I have loved you since the second I learned of your existence and I will never stop loving you, Faith Marie." He pressed a kiss to her head.

"I love you more."

"I love you most," Harry said with a smile. "Don't give the colonel a hard time. He's so in love with you it's almost painful to watch." She chuckled and nodded as Will told him how to set off the bomb. Harry pulled his mission patch off and handed it to A.J. "Give that to Truman for me. I love you, guys."

They all watched him go down in the elevator. Faith looked at the team, now her team. "We gotta strap in, guys."

They all nodded as they made their way to the cockpit. They dumped Rockhound behind Will, put A.J. in Harry's seat, she took Gruber's spot, Bear sat in Max's seat and Lev took one of the seats in the back.

"All right, let's go, Sharp. Let's get our team outta here," Harry told them over the radio. Will and Watts were moving so fast she could barely keep up with them.

"Monkey, you alright?" Chick asked.

She chuckled. "Nope."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Houston, do you copy? This is Harry Stamper."

Faith looked at A.J. He looked like she felt, tired, worn out and just done. Her dad was on the radio, she listened to his voice, he wanted to talk to Grace.

"Daddy!" Faith couldn't stop herself from crying when she heard her sister's voice.

"Hi, Gracie. Hi, honey. Grace, I know I promised you I was comin' home." Harry was about to break the kid's heart.

"I don't under… understand," Grace said. Faith's heart hurt as she listened to them.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to break that promise," Harry told his youngest child.

Grace chuckled. "I, um… I lied to you, too, when I told you that I didn't want to be like you. Because I am like you. And everything good that I have inside of me, I have from you. I love you so much, Daddy. I'm so proud of you. I'm so scared. I'm so scared."

"I know it, baby, but there won't be anything to be scared of soon. Gracie, I want you to know that A.J. saved us. He did. And you should've seen your sister up here bossing us around, Faith kicked ass, Gracie. She has been taking care of all of us her whole life. I think it's time she let somebody take care of her." Will glanced at her for a millisecond. Harry kept talking, "I want you to take care of A.J. I wish I could be there to walk you down the aisle. But I'll look in on you from time to time, okay, honey? I love you, Grace."

Faith could hear her sister crying. "I love you more."

"I love you most," Harry said. "I gotta go now, honey."

"Daddy, no." The signal cut out. Faith closed her eyes but the tears kept coming. She knew she wasn't the only one.

"What the hell's goin' on up there? Why haven't you guys left yet?" her dad asked. Faith looked at Will.

His hands were flying over the controls. "We're going, Harry. Houston. We got O.M.S. pod pre-start."

"Pod pre-start confirmed," Watts said as the ship sputtered and whined.

Will looked at Watts. "What's the problem?"

"I don't know," Watts said.

"What's wrong?" Lev yelled.

"Fix it now!" Will ordered. "We got no time, no time!" Watts ran past her and Lev followed.

"Will… what's going on?" Faith asked.

He glanced at her. "We aren't starting."

"Blow the bomb, Harry. We're with ya," Rock said.

"Come on, Watts," Will said.

"Sharp, get out of here now. You got less than three minutes," Harry told them. Faith couldn't decide if she should stay in her seat or try to help. She didn't know how the shuttle worked but it was a machine and she speaks that language very well.

The radio crackled in her ear, it was Clarke. "We're gettin' tight for ignition, Freedom."

"Houston, we've got no fire," Will didn't sound too sure that they would get off this rock.

"Will, breathe," she said as calmly as she could. "Watts has it, you know she does." He nodded.

"You know what that means, Faith?" Rock asked.

"Ship's busted. All the crap we did to it, I'm not surprised."

"A busted ship? And I'm strapped in here. I had a great spot picked out there." They all looked at Rockhound the best they could.

"He can't really be a genius," Will said.

"That's what I said," Chick muttered.

"Freedom, you fire that engine. If there's not a way, you find a way. The clock's tickin'," Clarke said, the worry in his voice was as clear day. "Let's go! Let's fire that engine, Freedom!"

"You got less than a minute. Don't think I won't blow this thing," Harry said. He was gone for a second but came back. "Sharp, get out of here. It's gettin' bad down here." At that moment, the ship roared back to life.

"She's coming back. She's coming back. We're hot! Watts! Let's go, let's go!" Will called as the other pilot jumped back into her seat. "Let's go! We don't have time! Hurry, hurry." The pair moved quickly but precisely. "We're outta time. Initiate thrusters on my mark! Two, one, mark!" Watts followed Will's instruction and they were off. "Thank you, Harry."

They were leaving, finally. But, for the first time since this whole thing began, she didn't want to go back to Earth, not with her dad on this rock. The logical part of her brain told her that he had to stay. The rest of her didn't give two shits about logic.

"Something's not right," Will said after a minute. "Too much time has gone by. We're goin' back and do it ourselves."

"Just don't. Wait one minute," Chick said. Will looked at Faith, his hand hovering over the controls to turn them around. She didn't say anything as Chick kept talking. "Colonel, I'm askin' you. Just one more minute!"

"Harry'll do it," A.J. added. "I know it. He doesn't know how to fail." Will moved his hand and nodded.

"Come on, dad," Faith whispered.

Then there was a flash.


	10. Nothing is Ever Gonna Be the Same

_"Faith Marie Stamper, get your skinny butt down, now!"_

_She looked at her father. "But daddy…"_

_"Get down, right now," he said with a shake of his head. Faith huffed but climbed from her spot a few feet from the top of the rig. "What are you doin' up there? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"_

_"I was fine. I can see the whole rig from up there, daddy. It's really cool."_

_"Cool? Cool? You could bust your head open if you fell!" her dad yelled._

_"I wasn't gonna fall," Faith said. "I was just looking at the sky. Mom would…"_

_"She's not here, I'm here. That's dangerous."_

_"I was just trying to be normal," she said. There aren't any trees to climb here."_

_He put his hands on his hips but Uncle Chick jumped in before he could say anything. "Harry, don't say something you'll regret. Miranda leaving ain't her fault. The kid's a monkey, she always has been."_

_"You would know that if you were ever around. Not my fault you don't pay attention," she muttered under her breath._

_Harry looked at her. "Young lady, I should…"_

_"What?" Faith asked with a glare. "We're in the middle of nowhere, what are you gonna do, dad? Stop me from seeing my friends? Ground me? You already did that and I didn't even do anything wrong."_

_"Faith, you need to watch how you talk to your father, sweetie," Uncle Chick told her._

_"Let me know when I get one of those. All I see is the man who made my mom so sad that she left."_

_"Faith," Uncle Chick gave her that look he always has when one of the guys does something stupid._

_"Sorry," she muttered._

_"_ _Your mom leaving isn't your dad's fault," Uncle Chick said as he knelt in front of her._ " _It's not your fault either. Change happens for a reason. Sometimes, we just have to let people go. You might not understand it now but one day, when you're a little older and a little wiser, you will. Now give your old man a hug and tell him you love him, because we both know you do."_

_Faith let out a sigh before looked up at her dad. "Sorry."_

_"_ _Me too, kiddo. Come here," her dad said before pulled her into a hug. "Tell you what. Next time you wanna climb up there, let me know and I'll put you in a harness first, okay?"_

_"_ _That takes all the fun out of it," she told him. He gave her a look. "But if it'll make you feel better, we got a deal."_

* * *

Faith was numb.

What could she say? What could any of them say? Harry was dead. He hit the button just like they knew he would to save the world. The logical part of her brain understood that it had to be done but it didn't stop the pain in her chest. If having a broken heart was a real medical condition, she had it.

It took them a few hours after Zero Barrier to get home. In that time, they all changed back into the orange -and blue, in Will and Watts' case- flight suits and strapped back in.

"Almost home, guys," Bear mumbled. She looked at the pilots as the sky in the window turned into the ground.

"Houston, we see you. And you never looked so good," Will told mission control.

Usually, shuttles landed at Kennedy but an exception was made for them long before they left Earth. They were putting down at Ellington Field, the joint military airfield adjacent to Johnson where they did their flight training. Faith took a deep breath; they were almost home. A few more minutes and they would be on the ground.

"I never told anybody this before but I hate flyin', so it'd be an awful shame to die now," Chick told them.

Rock rolled his eyes. "That's easy for you to say. I owe a hundred grand to a badass loan shark which I spent on a stripper named Molly Mounds."

A.J. snorted. "You would."

"Men." Watts chuckled. "Houston, we are 100 percent. Flap suspension control on full." The pilots landed them smoothly.

After coming to a full stop, Will looked at the team, "Welcome home, astronauts."

They all unstrapped but none of them went anywhere. As much as they all wanted to run to see their families, they had to wait.

One of the first things they learned was that they had to get used to gravity again. Something else Will taught them was that re-entry is hot and the shuttle had to air blown over it to eliminate some of the gasses that built up before they open the door. It was only forty-five minutes to complete the landing checklist but it felt like an eternity. As soon as they got the all clear, they got up.

"You alright?" Will asked quietly.

"Nothing is ever gonna be the same." She looked up at him.

"No… but that's not necessarily a bad thing." He brushed her cheeks with his thumbs as he held her face. "Come on, you got a little sister to see and I wanna hug my kids." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before they joined the others.

"Hey, guys, remember: We're heroes now. So that incident with me and the gun on the asteroid; let's keep that under wraps, all right?" Rockhound said. A.J., Bear and Lev all looked at him, then they looked at her.

Chick shook his head. "They didn't know why you were tied up, Rock… good job."

Lev hit the release for the hatch, deploying the emergency slide in the process. A.J. and Chick were out first. Bear and Lev were second. Faith and Rock behind them. Will and Watts were last. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath the second her feet hit the tarmac. Bear even kissed the ground at some point, muttering his thanks the whole time.

Then, together, they walked towards the building.

It took her a second to realize that all the people she saw were there for them. There were cheers and clapping. Then she spotted Grace, running as fast as she could towards them. A.J. looked at Faith and she smiled.

"She's not running to me, Frosty, go," she said. He took off, catching Grace when she jumped into his arms. Will reached over and grabbed her hand.

"You know, we never talked about what happens now," Faith said carefully.

He smiled. "I promised you a date."

"I think we're a little past that," she pointed out.

"So, indulge me... For the next twenty-five years or so."

"Did you just…?"

"We'll talk about it later," he said with a wink before letting her hand go just as Grace collided with her.

"You did good," Grace said.

"Well, I had a little help," Faith said with a chuckle. "But it was mostly me."

Grace shook her head before letting her go to give Will a hug too. "Welcome back, Sharp."

He smiled. "Good to be back, Grace."

"DADDY!" Two little brunette girls dressed in red, white and blue came sprinting in their direction with a beautiful blonde couple hot on their trail. Faith knew who they were instantly. Will smiled as he knelt to their level and caught them both when they jumped for him.

"Mommy said you saved the world, is that true?" the older one, Clare, asked.

"Yea, me and my friends saved the world, sweetie," Will told his daughter before looking up at his ex-wife and her husband. "Hey, Jess, Rich."

The pair both smiled at him but didn't say anything as the little girl looked at Faith, A.J. and Grace and waved, "Hi. I'm Clare Sharp. This is my little sister Ella, she's shy."

"Am not," Ella told them before leaning against Will. Faith chuckled, she remembers a time when that was her and Grace.

"Hi, Clare and Ella. I'm Faith Stamper. This is my little sister Grace, she's not shy. And her boyfriend, A.J. He's not shy either." Ella giggled while Clare whispered something to Will.

"Go ahead," he said before setting the little girl back on her feet. She wasn't overly surprised when Clare walked over to her, so Faith knelt to her level like Will had done.

Clare wrapped her small arms around Faith's neck. "Thank you for saving us, Miss Faith."

"You are very welcome, sweetie," Faith said. Clare let her go and hugged A.J. too before she took Faith's hand.

Will chuckled. "Oh, you're really stuck with me now, _Miss Faith_."

"So," Jess said, "she's the girlfriend? Go, Sharpie. I'm Jess, Willie's ex-wife. You're prettier than he described."

"Uh… hi. Thanks, I think," Faith muttered before looking at Will. "You told her about me?"

"Don't look so surprised. You two had to meet eventually," he said. "We're not married anymore but as the mother of my children, I do tell her about the important stuff." Grace nudged her.

Faith looked at her sister. "Don't you say it."

"What? I told you so?" Grace asked. "But I did tell you."

"Can it, Misses Frost," Faith said.

"That's not an insult," Grace said with a laugh, "you know, for the record."

"That's because there are too many small ears around for that," she told her sister. "Just you waith."

"Not bad, you guys. Not bad at all." Truman walked up to their little group as Chick hugged his son and some woman that was probably a stripper was kissing Rockhound.

"Uh, Harry wanted you to have this." A.J. handed the director Harry's mission patch.

"He did, huh?" They all nodded. Truman smiled. "It's a long story, I'll tell you later. Right now, you guys have to see medical."

"Man," Bear groaned. "Just keep Nurse Helga away from us." Faith chuckled as all the guys shuddered including Will. Helga was nice to her –and apparently Watts- but maybe it was because she was a woman.

Truman chuckled. "I'll see what I can do. Your families know what's going on. In a few minutes, we'll move them into a lounge to wait for you."

* * *

This was a horrible idea. She gets the need for a post-flight press conference but she didn't really want to talk to these people three hours after getting back. Truman's advice was to let him, Will and Watts do all the talking, of course that went out the window with one question: "Mission Specialist Stamper, how are you doing?"

"Was that a real question?" Faith asked. The reporter nodded. She took a breath. "Honestly, I feel like crap. I was in space for almost seventy hours, we're tired, we have family that we haven't seen in weeks waiting for us and we lost eight extraordinary men, including my father. How do you think I'm doing?" The room was silent.

She thought Truman or Will would step in but they didn't. She wasn't sure what Truman's thinking was but she knew Will was just as fed up as she was, he just had the benefit of military training to keep him from losing his cool.

"Look," she said with a sigh, "I understand everyone's need to talk about this. Everyone to understand but this wasn't some mission to fix the Hubble or a trip to the International Space Station. This… This whole thing was a knockdown, drag out, bloody knuckles fight for this planet. A fight for our friends and families and for yours. A fight that cost each of us people we cared about. We saved the world and now, we have to live with the things we did and saw and lost. That's the hard part. We have to live."

* * *

"Bet that's gonna be the sound bite. I gotta tell ya, Faith, that was gloomy. Gloomier than usual," Rockhound said.

"That the thing about the truth, Rock. It's not always pretty," she said before looking at Truman. "Sorry I ruined your press conference."

"You didn't ruin anything. I was against the whole idea from the beginning but I got overruled by the White House. I'm glad you said something, I couldn't get away with that if I tried."

"Fair enough," Faith said. "So, um, what happens now? You know, to all of us?"

As much as she loved the idea of going home and back to her life, she knew that there was a very slim chance of that.

"You'll stay here for a few days so medical can make sure you're all at a hundred percent. We'll talk about what happens after that before you leave. Right now, I think you should all see your families and get some rest," Truman said before he walked away from the group.

"I'm gonna go hang out with my kid," Chick said.

Will nodded in agreement. "Right behind you. You guys coming?"

The group looked at each other before they all nodded or shrugged.

Faith smiled. "Sure, why not."

* * *

"Let's see… he's really handsome and he's wearing blue so… I think it's your daddy," Faith said with a smile. Ella nodded as she showed Faith the picture she drew. "That girl is really pretty, is that you?"

"No, Miss Faith," Ella said, shaking her head. "That's you."

"That's me?" Faith put her hand over her heart. "No way, she's way too beautiful to be me. Are you sure?" Ella nodded again. Faith chuckled. "I'll take your word for it."

Ella smiled. "I drew it for you. That's you and daddy and the space shuttle and the stars and the world." Faith realized that Ella wasn't shy, just reserved. Clare was playing with Bear, Chick and Tommy while Ella decided to color.

"Thank you," Faith said with a smile. "I think I'm gonna hang it on my fridge."

Ella giggled. "Daddy does that."

"He does? You wanna draw something for him?" Ella nodded and the pair got to work drawing a picture for Will.

"What do we have here?" Will asked, standing behind them.

Ella covered the paper with her arm. "I'm drawing you a present, daddy. You can't see it yet."

"That so?" he asked. "Well, excuse me." He tried to peek but Faith wasn't having it.

"You heard her," she said, giving him a nudge, "you can't see it yet."

Will looked at her with mock hurt. "Thought you were on my side."

"She's cuter than you and she drew me a picture."

"I see how it is," Will said. "Taking my kid. I'll let you two be." He dropped a kiss to the top of Ella's head and one to Faith's cheek before leaving them alone.

Faith never really thought about having kids. It wasn't that she didn't want any, she just never found the right person to even consider procreating with. Man, was she thinking about it now.

* * *

They were all moved to the part of the building where the pilots' rooms had been for the last few weeks. They were more comfortable and more private. There was a knock at her door. Faith thought about ignoring it but she knew that depending on who it was, they wouldn't leave if she did.

"It's not locked," she said.

"Figured as much," Will said with a chuckle as in stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Hi."

"Hi," Faith said. "Where are the girls?"

"They went home. It's way past their bedtime."

"But _dad_ …"

Will laughed. "That sounds about right. They wanted to stay but we all need some rest. I think Rockhound's girlfriend is still here, though."

"Figures." She shook her head at the mention of Molly Mounds. Faith had nothing against strippers, especially Molly, who seemed really nice, hypersexual but nice.

"They like you," Will said, sitting on her bed. "My girls. Jess and Rich too."

"Well, I like them," she said. A side effect of taking care of Grace for so long, Faith got along with most kids really well.

"I know, I saw that." Will gave her a look and Faith smirked.

"What?"

"Nothing." They needed to talk but she didn't have the energy. Will must have been reading her mind. "We'll be here a few days and there will be plenty of time to talk. Right now, I just wanna lay in bed with you."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

* * *

"Say that again."

"I said 'work for me'," Truman repeated. "That mission to Mars is still on deck and I could use someone with your expertise to work on the gear, maybe even go up."

Faith was speechless. Truman wanted her to stick around NASA. She had to think about it and talk to her sister since, with Harry gone, they now owned his company. While Faith could easily see herself going back, there was a part of her that didn't want to.

"I'm not qualified for that," she said.

"If you take a look at the regs, you are. There's still some training you'd have to do, especially if you agree to go up but you do, officially, have the basics." Truman smiled. "I don't need an answer right now. Just want you to think about it." He patted her arm before leaving her in the conference room.

Could she really work for NASA? In the span of less than three weeks that's exactly what she did. She fixed the rig, helped build a mount, trained to go into space and went. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to work here for real.

She figured the best thing to do was find her sister and get her opinion. Faith went looking for her sister and found Grace watching the news.

"How bad?"

Grace chuckled. "You're popular. Pretty, smart, honest. People like you."

"I guess my life is complete," Faith muttered. "Maybe I should turn Truman down."

Grace looked at her and smiled. "He offered you a job?"

"How do you do that?"

"What?"

"Know everything."

"It's my super power," her sister said with a shrug.

"I don't know what to do," Faith said.

"Yes, you do. You always do," Grace told her. "If you're worried about the company, don't be. I can handle it."

"No, you can't," she said. "Well, not by yourself, anyway."

"Uh, I got A.J., Bear, probably Chick, maybe even Rockhound. You know me, I'll make it work."

"Can you really see me working here?" Faith asked.

"Of course, I can. The question is, can you see yourself working here?" Grace asked. "You know, being a badass engineer and going on missions with your boyfriend. Oh, I bet he'd get a kick out of it too."

"Yeah," Faith sighed, "about that…"

"You aren't gonna dump him, are you?" Grace asked. You would think they were talking about her own relationship. "You and Sharp are so stinkin' adorable. And those cute little girls of his. Seriously, I wanna keep 'em."

Faith chuckled and shook her head. "NO. No, it's just… I think he proposed to me. I mean, it's crazy, right?"

Faith explained to her sister what Will said on the tarmac. Grace thought about it for a few minutes before she laughed.

"I think he meant it. I mean, last month, you were jumping around an oil rig. Today, you are fresh back from a trip to space where you saved the world. I don't know what Sharp was up to but, judging by the way some of the personnel look at him, I'm assuming he was as much of a hard ass with them as he was when we first got here," Grace said. "Look, you love him and he loves you, I say you go for it. Just don't get married before me."

"I'll see what I can do," Faith said.

"Miss Stamper," one of the Air Force officers said when he walked into the room.

"Yes," they both answered.

He looked at them and Faith smiled. "We're both Miss Stamper. What can we do for you?"

"There's someone is here to see you, Ma'am."

They followed him into a small conference room where Hank Stamper stood looking out the window.

"Grandpa?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone ever watched a real shuttle landing, it's takes almost an hour for them to get out and depending on how long they were gone, they are wobbly on their feet.


	11. I Keep Hoping That I'm in Some Dreamland

"Look at you two. God, it's been… too long."

That was an understatement. It was just shy of 13 years ago, the last time they saw their grandfather. Hank blamed Harry for their mother leaving, told him that he couldn't raise girls on the rig, called him a failure and told him not to 'come asking for help.' Clarence, their other grandfather, and Hank were really close friends. They were the kind of friends that were more excited about their kids getting married then the bride and groom were. When Miranda split, it caused more than a few riffs, leaving the girls in the middle.

"Hi, grandpa," Grace said with a smile and a hug. If he was expecting the same from Faith, he was going to be disappointed; she remembers some of the stuff he said to her father.

"Faith," he said, attempting to give her a hug.

She offered her hand. "Sir."

"Someone takes after Harry," he said with a chuckle, shaking the offered hand.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said.

"It was one. I know we haven't seen each other in a while but I owe you an apology," her grandfather said. Faith didn't see her sister look at her, but she did feel the younger woman's eyes on her. "I was an idiot. I sided with your mother when she left. I was always protective of Miranda, much like Chick is with you girls. Your mother, she was unhappy and none of us noticed how bad it was until the day she dropped you off with me and left."

Faith still didn't hear an apology.

"I tried to reason with her but seeing her like that, it broke my heart. I kept telling your dad to fix it. For a while he tried but then he gave up. At least, I thought he did. I realized a little too late that he was trying to do what was best for you girls while the rest of us were more concerned about Miranda. I can't tell you girls how sorry I am that I wasn't there for you… or him. I saw you on TV. I always knew you were smart. I mean, look at you, you're an astronaut."

"Technically." Because she has been past the 50-mile orbital marker, Faith did rate being referred to as an astronaut but only just barely.

He nodded. "I know I don't deserve it but… would you girls be willing to give an old man a second chance?"

"Life's too short, Faith," Grace whispered.

"But Harry…" Faith whispered back.

"He'd want us to do better than him," her sister said quietly. The sisters looked at each other for a second before they both nodded. He was their grandfather and they'd lost too much family as it was. "Of course, we can, grandpa."

"Yeah," Faith added, "we got a truckload of second chances to go around."

"End of the world does that," Hank said.

Grace nodded. "Yea, something like that. You…"

"There you guys are," A.J. said as he walked into the room. "I've been all over the building looking for ya'll."

"All you had to do was ask someone," Grace said. "A.J., this…"

"Hank Stamper," their grandfather said, jumping in.

"Harry's dad." A.J. smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm A.J. Frost, Grace's fiancé."

"I know who you are, son," Hank told them. "Your mama and papa were really good friends with Harry. Fiancé huh?" They all nodded as he smiled. "Congrats. When's the big day?"

"Haven't decided yet, giant asteroid took priority," Grace said.

"Of course." He looked at Faith. "And, what about you? Got a special someone?"

"I…"

"Colonel Sharp popped the question," Grace said before Faith could really say anything.

She glared at her sister. "Gracie…"

"Wait. Really?" A.J. asked. "What did you say?"

"I didn't really say anything. I didn't have a chance to," Faith told him. A.J. gave her a look like he wasn't sure if he believed her. Hell, she wasn't sure if she believed herself.

"You're gonna say yes, right? I mean, you know you want to." She wanted to shrug him off but, as usual, A.J. had more of a read on her than she cared to admit.

"One wedding at a time, guys."

* * *

"Home, sweet home," Faith muttered.

It was weird not being at Johnson after spending so much time there. She got offers from all the guys to do one thing or another –probably to keep her mind busy- but she really just wanted to cry. She dropped her bag –and Harry and Freddy's bags- near the couch and slid the picture that Ella made for her from the cargo pocket of her pants. She unfolded it and smiled before using an old Stamper Oil magnet to stick it to the refrigerator.

Faith and Will didn't get a chance to have that conversation but she did have a lot of time to think. She thought about what her future looked like, about where she wanted to be, about who would be there with her; it was one of those conversations that the angel and devil on your shoulders have.

"What do you think, dad?"

The picture of her, Harry and Grace on the end table offered her no reply but she wasn't really expecting it to. She had to stop herself from calling Harry a few times since they've been back. Though Faith pulls off 'stoic leader' in front of the others pretty well, she didn't even bother at home. She let the tears fall as she stepped outside and sat on her back patio, looking up at the sky.

"I'd bet you'd make some joke about me always looking up. Then you'd tell me to go for it."

It was odd to her that she'd been up there, something that not a lot of people have done. Harry would think that she's crazy for wanting to go back but she did.

"You got the itch," a familiar voice said, interrupting her thoughts. Quickly, she wiped the tears off her face and offered a small smile.

"What are you…? How did you know I'd be out here?"

"Easy." Will chuckled. "I know you better than you think I do. I figured this is where you'd be."

"I'm just thinking about Harry," she told him.

He smirked. "And the fact that you wanna go back."

"Truman offered me a job."

"He'd be an idiot not to. Dan is many things but that's not one of them," Will pointed out. "What do you want?"

"I want my dad. I know it's not possible but it's what I want. Since I can't have that… I guess I just wanna make him proud."

"He was proud of you. Anyone with eyes saw it. If Harry was here asking this same question, what would you say?"

"I would tell him something like 'I wanna do it but…'"

He shook his head. "No 'buts'. You want something; you figure out a way to it. That's who you are." Damn, Will really does have her pegged. It was almost scary that he knew her so well.

"What about you?" she asked. "What do you want?"

"You. I think I made that pretty clear, sweetheart." Faith chuckled as Will pulled her out of her seat, sat down in the chair and pulled her onto his lap.

She rested her head in the crook of his neck. "We aren't stuck at the space center anymore."

"I know. I happen to like being stuck with you."

Faith rolled her eyes. "That whole 'look at me, I'm a sexy pilot' thing you got going on doesn't work on me."

"You wanna bet?"

"Okay, maybe it does a little bit." She smiled. "I am only human."

Will was quiet for a minute before he took a breath. "I've done a lot of things, Faith. Been all over the world. Hell, I've been off the world, more than once. After everything with Jess fell apart, I never expected… I never expected someone like you. My father likes to say that when you know, you know. I've waited a lifetime for you, I just didn't know it until you locked those hazel eyes on me that first day. I don't care if it's next week or if it takes me ten years to talk you into it, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She touched his face and he turned to look at her, his blue eyes sparkling in the starlight. Faith knew he was serious, he wants to marry her. "Why?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"Why would you want to marry me? I mean, I'm…"

"Amazing, brilliant, caring, dedicated, enticing, fun, gorgeous, heroic, intriguing… You know, I got at least one for every letter in the alphabet."

Faith couldn't help but laugh. "Really?"

"Of course, I do. I bet you came up with a few of your own about me." He was annoyingly right but she loves it. She loves him.

"Yes."

"I figured as much…" Will said.

Faith pressed her fingers against his lips. "Not that. Well, yes to that but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying 'yes'…Yes, I'll marry you, just not this week. Okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed her finger before he moved her hand away from his face and brought their lips together.

* * *

Faith reached out, expecting to wrap her arm around Will but she felt an empty spot. She cracked her eyes open and found herself alone in bed. "Will?"

"Oh, look, my beautiful fiancée is awake." He smiled. "Good morning. Made some coffee."

She looked at him. "You're waltzing around my house with nothing on and I missed it?"

"Maybe I can be convinced not to get dressed." Oh, that sounded like a challenge and Faith does love a challenge.

"What did you have in mind, Colonel?"

He sat the mug on the nightstand and looked at her. "You tell me."

"You're better with words than I am," Faith said with a laugh before she grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the bed.

"That so?" Will wrapped his arm around her waist and flipped them over so that she ended up sprawled across his body. She couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her lips. "A giggle? I made Faith Stamper giggle."

"You think that's funny?" she asked. "I know for a fact that you're ticklish." She sat up, straddling him, and ran her hands along his sides and over his stomach.

"Don't even think about it, sweetheart." She smirked but before she could tickle him, Will grabbed her hands and pulled her against him.

"That's mean." He nodded before he kissed her. He let go of her hands, running his fingers along her arms. The atmosphere in the room changed in a millisecond. "You're playin' dirty," she whispered against his lips.

He smirked. "Oh, trust me, I know."

Her eyes fluttered closed as he ran his hands over her skin. "Will."

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Love you." She smiled.

Will smiled up at her. "I love you too."

"I happen to know that, Colonel." Faith slipped her knees to either side of his hips and locked her eyes with Will's as she slowly slid onto him. "Oh..."

He gripped her hips as she started to move, his eyes half closed. She concentrated on the feel of him, her gaze ran over his chest and face. It was unfair, the way he looked at her like the universe was in her eyes. He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled her down for a kiss.

She could –and should- get used to this; Will for breakfast. Faith could feel her heart beating in her chest and his heart under her fingers. Her stomach muscles tightened and quivered as the pressure built. She could swear it felt like lava was racing through her veins with every move.

"Let go, Faith." The feel of his skin against hers, the sound of his voice in her ear; it was pulling her under. As soon as her rhythm faltered, Will took control and flipped them over and her body tightened around him. It was crazy how in tune they were with each other.

"W-will…" He pushed them both over the edge, Faith quivered around him. "So much better than coffee."

Will chuckled as he pressed kisses along her collarbone. "Yes, you are."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go take a shower, you comin'?"

"You... naked... water... Like I would miss that."

* * *

How do you go back to real life after the world almost ends? New York, Paris and Shanghai were all in tatters, Stamper Oil was technically under new management, the spotlight was shining down on all the surviving team members and none of them knew where to begin.

Aside from Harry, Faith also had to deal with Freddy's belongings since he didn't have any family. She pulled an envelope from her bag; she found it when she cleaned out Freddy and Max's room.

_Faith,  
My crazy, beautiful, brilliant bestest friend in all of everything, if you're reading this, that means you made it back and I didn't. First things first, it's not your fault. Yea, I know you're blaming yourself (that's what you do) but you didn't cause this, you didn't ask us to do it and no matter what happened, you didn't cause my death. Now, the good stuff. _

_It's funny to me that I grew up an only child because I feel a big brother when it comes to you. I remember the day you showed up at the dock to get on the crew boat. I won't lie and say I didn't check you out, everyone but Chick did._

_I never thought that I could be so close to a woman that I never slept with but you make us all do crazy things. I love you, Faithie. I know we don't get all sappy but I want you to know that. Being your friend is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Take of yourself and don't give Sharp a hard time. Let the man love you, it's impossible for anyone not to._

_Your friend 'til the end.  
Fred_

_P.S. There's a copy of my will behind this letter. Yes, it's right and yes, we already knew I was crazy._

Faith looked at the other papers she pulled from the envelope. "Of all the... that crazy son of a bitch."

Will looked at her. "Who?"

"Fredrick James Noonan, that's who," she said with a groan before handing him a copy of Freddy's will. "The idiot left me everything." Freddy had substantial savings and property near Chicago; he left it all to her. "None of which, I actually want."

"Maybe not but he wanted you to have it. He was your best friend and you guys considered yourselves family, it only makes sense," Will said. "My advice, go through his place and pick a few things that mean a lot to you and give the rest away."

"That's what we decided to do with dad's stuff. It's just… If I go through Freddy's place, picking apart his life, it becomes real. I keep hoping that I'm in some dreamland and we haven't left yet. When I wake up, it hits me that dad and Freddy are just gone. That Oscar isn't there to tease me. That Max isn't just grabbin' a bear claw and he'll be here soon. I even miss Davis, Tucker, Gruber and Halsey. I barely even knew them. It's crazy right?"

"Not crazy. They were your teammates and you bonded. Tucker liked you and Davis thought that you were probably gonna be the one who saved our asses; which you and A.J. did. Gruber thought you were cool and Halsey was impressed by you, which never happens. They bonded with you too. It's okay to miss them. I miss 'em all too, even Harry and the guys."

* * *

Of course, the President of the United States forced them all out of hiding and 'requested' that they join him at the White House for a ceremony but they weren't told what.

"This is so cool," A.J. whispered.

"This sucks," Faith muttered, rolling her eyes. "I should be the last person in a room with the President."

"You could've said no," Will said with a chuckle. "I couldn't've but you could've."

She knew he was referring to the fact that he had to follow orders from his Commander in Chief but she didn't. He also knew how she felt about the leader of the free world and it wasn't very nice.

"I'm not one for pomp and circumstance… or really over priced designer dresses. The only reason I'm not really annoyed is because I get to watch you walk around in your dress uniform," she told him, earning chuckles from the guys.

"Well, I happen to like this look on you," he said, stepping closer. "And I'll have to remember how fond you are of my uniform for later, Miss Stamper."

She looked at Will as he smirked at her. "You're annoying."

"But you love me. You said so yourself." He smiled.

"Get a room," Rockhound grumbled.

"Says the man that who was dry humpin' his girlfriend on the tarmac," Chick pointed out.

"Are you sure they were just dry humpin'?" A.J. asked.

"You never know with Rock," Faith added just as an aide of some kind walked into the room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll be getting started soon."

"Thank you," Faith said before the man ushered the whole group down a hall.

"We're getting medals," Will whispered to her.

"Think so?"

"I do. Huh, I like how that sounds, 'I do'."

"I already said yes, Will. One thing at a time."

* * *

Well, Will was right, every member of the crew –even those who didn't make it back- were awarded the Medal of Honor –the active duty military crew members- or the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the rest of them, including Lev.

"I'm proud of you," Will whispered against her ear as they stood off to the side at the stupid reception.

"You got a medal too." She chuckled. "I saw it with my own eyes and everything."

He shook his head as she rested her hands on the lapels of his uniform. "I meant I'm proud of you for not punching the president over Secondary Protocol. I wanted to."

"Can you imagine the press? 'Hero Decks Commander in Chief.' They'd have a field day." Faith smiled.

Will nodded. "Would've been worth it, though."

"Probably."

* * *

"Six weeks."

Faith looked at her sister as they walked down the street by Faith's house. Grace had popped up and suggested some fresh air.

"Six weeks for…?" Faith asked.

"The wedding is in six weeks," Grace said with a smile. "I know it seems soon but… I want to start living my life. We've all wallowed around for almost two months, it's time to do something with the lives you guys fought so hard for."

"Yea, about that. I, uh… I was looking through the paperwork and I decided that I want to give A.J. some of my shared of Stamper Oil. I'll still own more of it than either of you but I don't want to run the company. I, uh, I think out. I think I'm done."

Grace looked at her. "Are you sure?"

"I am terrified. But someone once told me that that was a good thing. Harry may have been right, that I've been hiding out on that rig for all these years, so scared of being abandoned again. It was easier out there, stopping people from getting close. Besides, I'm sure Stamper Oil is in good hands. You know what you're doing on the operation's side and A.J. knows how to run the rig as well as I do. Chick says he'll stay on as an advisor, Bear's going back and I'm only a phone call away."

"What are you gonna do?"

She smiled at her sister. "Relax before I go work for Truman. Officially, I already meet the requirements for NASA; it's just a matter of filling in the massive hole in my training. Like years' worth of stuff. I know there's more to it but I get to skip over a lot of the hoops since I've been in space already."

"What does Sharp think?"

"He doesn't know yet. I just made the decision two hours ago, I was on the phone with Truman when you showed up. Will's with his girls, I'm not gonna disturb them."

Grace smiled, "Awe, you're so cute when you're domestic-like."

"Shut up, Frost."


	12. Epilogue

_Five years later_

"Go ahead, Houston," Faith said into her comms.

She was in the shuttle Discovery prepping for their departure from the International Space Station. This was her first mission since the 'Fight for Earth' almost five years ago. Unlike that one, this mission was eighteen days long and the world wasn't in danger.

"Hey, sweetheart," a familiar voice said in her ear. Of all the things she expected, that was pretty low on the list.

She smiled, like she always does when she hears his voice. "Hey, yourself."

"How you doing up there?" Will asked.

"I love it but I'm ready to go home. Cuddle with my husband. Steal all the covers. You know how it is," she joked.

"I can't wait," he said. Listening to him, he was happy but he also sounded tired.

"So, what happened that has you calling me at, what, one in the morning? You should be in bed."

"I would be, except your sister went into labor early. You have a very niece named Harriet."

A lot of people expected a baby sooner from AJ and Grace but Faith knew her sister wanted to get settled in her new position running Stamper Oil before she added a kid to the mix.

"I missed it. Gracie's gonna kill me." Faith chuckled. "How are they doin'?"

"They're good. I got to hold the baby before I left. She is definitely a Stamper, looks like you and her mama."

"That's probably a good thing that she doesn't look like A.J."

She heard him chuckle. "Probably. Too bad the baby didn't wait a few more days. They're gonna miss you getting back."

"I'll see 'em when I get back to Texas. You and the girls will be there, right?"

"We're already in Florida."

"See, I'll be fine," Faith said. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, sweetheart. I gotta go, CAPCOM is glaring at me. Remind me to thank Clarke for letting me jack the radio for a few minutes." She heard the flight director tell Will that he was welcome and to get some sleep.

"You better listen to him, Colonel."

"Yes, ma'am," her husband said. "Telling me what to do from space. Kinda hot."

She laughed. "Shut up and go to bed, William. Kiss the girls for me."

"Will do, my love. See you tomorrow."

"A little girl, huh?" Watts asked as she floated over. "Karma is biting Frost in the ass."

"You ain't never lied. I warned him," Faith said. "Hell, everybody warned him that he'd get a girl as God's way of punishing him."

"You know…" Watts started.

"Don't even."

"I'm just saying. Everyone's waiting for a baby Sharp."

Faith looked at her friend. "Will already has kids."

"You don't have kids," the pilot pointed out.

"Neither do you."

"I have a dog, I'm good and you're dodging."

"I'm not dodging. I'd just prefer to land safely before I plan out the next twenty years of my life."

Watts chuckled. "Yeah, yeah."

* * *

"Look what the cat dragged in," A.J. said as soon as he opened the door. She didn't get a chance to reply before he brother-in-law pulled her into a big hug. "Welcome home, astronaut. Hey, Willie. Clare and Ella, sup girls?"

"Hey, A.J.," her step-daughters said in unison with a giggle before they each gave him a high-five.

"So," Faith said, "where's the baby?"

He rolled his eyes and pointed behind him. "You'd think nobody liked me anymore."

"It's normal," Will said with a laugh. "You get used to it."

Faith didn't hear the rest of their conversation as she took in her sister sitting next to Denise with a tiny bundle in her arms. "Hey, sis."

Grace's face lit up. "Hey. I saw your landing on the news. I'm sorry we missed it but your niece was done waiting for you."

"That just means she's as stubborn as we are. Can I hold her?" she asked. Grace nodded before motioning to the spot next to her. "She's tiny," Faith whispered to no one in particular as soon as Harriet was settled in her arms. "Hey, little one. I'm your Aunt Faith." The little girl looked at her, like she was doing an assessment to see if Faith was worthy. Harriet must have approved because she snuggled against Faith's chest and went back to sleep. "Guess she likes me."

"What's not to like?" Will asked. She rolled her eyes, the retort on the tip of her tongue died when she looked up at her husband. She couldn't place the look he was sending her way but it was mesmerizing.

* * *

"Do you know what today is?" Will asked, his lips pressing soft kisses against her neck.

"I don't know," Faith said with a sigh. "Did something special happen? Something life changing, perhaps?"

"You honestly don't remember?"

" _'Good morning, I'm Colonel Willie Sharp. In addition to flying one of the X-71 teams to that rock, my job is to train you how to deal with the mental and physical riggers of working in space so you don't freak out on the asteroid. United States astronauts train for years. You have twelve days._ ' Like I could ever forget the day I met that hot pilot with the blue eyes."

Will smiled. "I did not sound like that."

"Yes, you did. You were sitting on that table, looking down at all of us and I could swear you were trying to scare us. If only a little," she said.

"Well, it worked on some of you." He smirked. "Not you, obviously."

She smiled against his chest. "Course not, I'm awesome."

"You most certainly are, Missus Sharp."

Five years. Faith ran her fingers along his jaw and smiled. They got married a few months after Grace and A.J. in a far smaller –like Grace, AJ, Grandpa Hank, Clare, Ella, Will's parents and Chick were the only people there- ceremony. Neither of them cared much for the attention.

"I think it's worth celebrating," Will said.

She knew that tone. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I think we're gonna go out tonight. Then, when we get home, I'm gonna kiss, touch and lick every inch of your beautiful body."

"Who am I to argue with that?"

* * *

She threw the pillow across the room, at least, she tried to throw it that far. "Go away, A.J."

"No, can do, Faith. You need to go see a doctor," he told her.

"Don't you have a life? Like a beautiful wife and an adorable kid and company to take care of? Go worry about… any of that." Faith pulled the blanket over her head with a groan.

"You're cute." A.J. chuckled. "Do you know what your sister will do to me if I go home and leave you like this? She'll murder me."

"I'll murder you."

"You don't have the strength," he pointed out. "Look, Grace is just as worried about you as I am. She'd be here herself but she doesn't want Harriet to get sick. I'll probably have to go through decon before she lets me near her."

"A.J…"

He looked at her. "Somebody has to keep an eye on you while Willie is at Kennedy."

"He's at Canaveral, not Kennedy."

A.J. raised an eyebrow. "Same difference."

"It's not and you know it's not," she said. Kennedy was the space center and Cape Canaveral is the Air Force station.

"Doesn't matter. You can't keep water down and you look like death. If you're not gonna listen to me, I'm gonna have to call him."

"Fine. Can I at least take a shower, first?" she asked.

Much as it annoyed her, she knew that he wouldn't let it go until she did what he wanted. Faith didn't have the energy to fight, she felt like she was run over by a truck. They warned her that she could get sick after coming home, but she's been back for two months.

"Come on, I'll help ya," A.J. offered. She was gonna tell him to fuck off but she realized that she needed his help to stand.

"That sucks," she groaned.

"Well, look on the bright side, at least Rock's not here."

He had a good point. Rockhound was all over the place these days and the last thing she needed was one of the many cameras following him to follow her.

* * *

"It's cold," she mumbled. Faith heard some shifting, then she felt someone drape something over her. Something that smelled like Will.

"That better, sweetheart?" her husband asked.

"Mm hmm." It took a second but her brain eventually caught up with her. She cracked an eye open. "Where am I and when did you get here?"

"You're in the hospital. You passed out in the car on the way here. Scared the shit outta A.J. How you feel?"

She didn't really know and told him as much. She must have been out for a while if Will was here. "They know anything yet?"

"I don't know, I just got here a few minutes ago," he told her. "A.J. has been trying to get some answers before Grace shows up."

Grace was the sweetest person in the world… until something happened to one of them and then she went full mama bear and became protective as hell. They all had copies of her body slamming Truman when they were on the asteroid. Faith knew she shouldn't be but she was so proud.

"Sorry you had to leave Florida early," Faith said, taking in the bright blue NASA jumpsuit.

"Don't be. I'd rather be here with you. Besides, I was bored out of my mind."

"You should've taken that promotion."

"And give up flying? No thanks."

Faith chuckled. "You do get pretty grumpy when they do don't let you fly something."

He pressed a kiss to her temple. "It's what I do."

"Can I come in?" A.J. said from the door, Faith nodded. "Doc's coming."

"Heard I had you worried. Sorry," she said.

"You can bake me some of those snickerdoodles and we'll call it even." He smiled.

"Deal," Faith said before taking a deep breath. She felt like she was going to throw up but there was nothing left.

"I should've stayed," Will muttered.

"And you would've gotten sick too," she said, squeezing his hand.

"Not likely, Misses Sharp," the doctor said as he walked into the room. He looked at her and Will before pointing at A.J. "Friend?"

"Brother," Will said.

"Very worried brother," A.J. added. "Is she okay?"

"Have any of you ever heard of Hyperemesis Gravidarum?" the doctor asked.

Faith shook her head at the same time Will said "No."

"Most people haven't, it's rare. Excessive morning sickness. Starts between four and six weeks and subsides at twenty weeks at the latest. You've probably struggled to keep anything down, even your own saliva. The severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and electrolyte disturbance. It should go away in about nine to twelve weeks. I'll give you something to help and I would suggest taking it easy until the medication does its job. In the…"

"Wait… morning sickness?" Faith asked.

The doctor looked at her. "You didn't know?" She slowly shook her head and he smiled. "About five weeks based on your blood work."

Faith looked at Will. "Babe…"

"A baby." Will smiled and rested hand on her stomach.

"So, she's okay and the only thing wrong is that she has hyperactive morning sickness?" A.J. asked. Leave it to him to sum the whole thing up.

The doctor nodded. "Yes."

Her brother let out the breath he was holding and chuckled. "I owe Watts thirty bucks."

"You bet against me, Frosty? You know better." He kissed her head as the doctor gave them the rest of her info and told her that she was being discharged.

"What I know is that Gracie is gonna lose her mind," A.J. said.

"She's never gonna let me hear the end of it."

* * *

"Awe, little blue-eyed babies," Grace said over the phone. Faith just rolled her eyes, not that her sister could see it.

"They could be hazel-eyed, you know, like me."

"Nope, blue," the younger woman said. "It's gonna be a little boy with blue eyes. And he'll look just like his dad."

"A blue-eyed boy? How you figure?" Faith asked. This was her kid too.

"One, the Sharp girls both have blue eyes but their mother has green. And because the universe can't handle anymore Stamper women, it almost has to be a boy."

"Okay, I'll give you that one. Begrudgingly."

As she expected, A.J. didn't give Faith a chance to tell Grace about her impending motherhood, beating her to the punch. Also as she expected, Grace was thrilled. Her sister's happiness about becoming an aunt didn't stop her from teasing Faith mercilessly for being second again, not Faith cared; she has two awesome stepdaughters, after all.

"How's the Colonel doing with this?" Grace asked.

Faith smiled. "He's good. Pretty sure I'm more worried than he is. But, you know, he has done this before."

"He's never done this with you," Grace laughed. "How's he doing?"

The phone was gently pulled from her hand as Will rested his other hand on her still flat, yet internally growing, stomach. "I'm the luckiest man in the known universe. First, this amazing woman marries me. Then, I find out that she's walking around carrying my child. That answer your question?" There was a pause before Will chuckled. "You know her." He paused again. "Will do, Grace." He handed the phone back and gave her a quick kiss.

"See, what I mean," Faith said to her sister.

"I think I'm sending him my dental bill. Who knew that the hard-ass Air Force Colonel could be so sweet?"

"Uh, me." She laughed. "It's why I love him, even when he annoys the hell outta me."

"Guys do that," her sister said. "Oh. I gotta go, your niece just woke up. Love you, mama."

"Love you more."

"Love you most."

* * *

"Now, I know you like to keep a low profile…"

"But?" Faith looked up from the schematics she'd been working on.

"But… you're showing and the press got wind of it. Everyone wants to talk to you," Truman said.

"How'd you get saddled with this conversation?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she did.

"HR ain't that brave," he told her. "Even if you just say that you don't have a comment, you have to say something."

"One," Faith said. Much as it pained her, she knew that people would keep asking until the cows come home. "NBC did the last one; they can do this one. I'm only speaking for myself. If Will doesn't want to do an interview, I'm not talking him into it since they're a pain in the ass. And they have to come to us."

"I think I can manage that." Truman sighed. "I already talked to Sharp."

"He said he'd do it but only if I agreed to it."

"That's exactly what he said." He smiled. "You know, I think your dad would be happy."

Apparently, while she and Will were getting close during those first weeks, so were her dad and Truman. With the weight of the world on their shoulders, the two men became really good friends. Even though Harry was gone, Truman made good on the promise that all the guys made to look after Faith and Grace.

"So, any idea of what you're having?" her boss asked.

"No clue," Faith said. "Will knows but I want to be surprised. Nursery is light yellow stars and pale orange spaceships. Since I work here too, I can't be sure if it's a hint or not."

Truman laughed. "You scared?"

"A little but everybody keeps telling me it's normal."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You're gonna be a good mom. I mean, if Frost can take care of a baby…"

* * *

"I wanna know," Faith muttered. "I know I said I didn't but I do. I wanna know."

"No, you don't," Will told her. "Besides, you'll find out soon."

"I hate you so much right now," she said with a glare before clenching her teeth.

"You couldn't hate me if you tried." He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "You are doin' great, sweetheart."

"How the hell do you know?"

Much as she loved him, Will was starting to get on her nerves with his handsome face and disarming smile and all that calmness. She knew he was trying to distract her from the doctors and nurses but she was in too much pain to be nice.

"This is your fault," she said.

"Only because I find my wife insanely irresistible. You can't be pissed at me for that," Will said with a chuckle. She took a deep breath as another contraction hit.

"I'd rather blowup another asteroid."

"You want me to hold you?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow as Will smiled and slid onto the bed behind her. Faith couldn't help herself and leaned back into his embrace. "Better?"

Faith nodded. "I don't know if I can do this, Will."

"You're the toughest person I know, sweetheart. You got this." He kissed her behind her ear and held her hands.

* * *

"Okay, pay up." Grace held out her hand as Bear, Watts, and Chick reached into pockets and wallets to hand her money.

"What was the bet?" Faith asked.

Grace smiled. "Gender with Chick, eye color with Jen and closeness to your due date with Bear. I won all three."

Will shook his head and he rocked the tiny child in his arms. "They're betting on our kid."

"You're sharing that with us, right, sis?" she asked her sister.

"Sharing, no," Grace said before handing Faith the cash. "Start a college fund."

"Yes, mother," Faith said, rolling her eyes just as there was a knock on the door. Grace opened it to allow A.J., Rockhound, Lev, Truman, Will's parents, Clare, Ella and Jess into the room. "Hey, ya'll."

"Hey," everyone said as they moved to see the baby.

"How do you feel?" Jess asked. Faith let out a sigh. "Oh, I remember that feeling."

The two women couldn't be more different but the current and former Misses Sharps became pretty good friends. It made being a stepmom easy, not having to fight with your husband's ex-wife and not having to force the kids to choose sides.

"Can I hold the baby, daddy?" Ella asked.

"Of course, you can," Will said with a nod. Everyone looked on as Will relinquished his seat to his little girl and placed her brother in her arms.

"So…" Rock said, "what's the baby's name?"

"I have no idea," Faith told them. "I didn't even know he was a boy until they put him in my arms. Will?"

"Henry William Sharp," her husband said. "Harry for short."

Rockhound let out a groan before he handed Grace and Watts a fifty each.

"You should've known better, Rock," Faith said with a laugh. "Let me guess, name?"

"They said you guys would name the kid after your dad. I said Freddy," he told her.

"Almost went with Fred but Stamper had such a good name. This little guy is named after kings and heroes," Will told the room.

Before anyone else could say anything, a nurse pushed her way in. "Alright people, let's let the new mama get some rest."

One by one everyone made their way out of the room. AJ and Grace were last. Her brother kissed her cheek. "I'll stop by tomorrow. Love you, Faithie."

"Love you too, Frosty," she smiled. "Kiss my niece for me."

He nodded as Grace gave her a hug and kissed Harry on his head. "If dad could see us now."

"I like to think he's keepin' an eye on us. Freddy, Oscar and Max too," Faith said.

"Me too." Grace smiled. "You know, you owe me…"

"Grace was right and I was wrong," she said. "I totally came back and had a cute little blue-eyed baby. You called it."

"It's nice hearing you say it. Love you."

"Love you more, sweetie." Grace kissed her head and followed AJ out of the room. For the first time, Faith, Will and baby Harry were alone. "You know… I don't regret any of it. I would do everything again, good and bad, if it meant I ended up here with you."

Will smiled and looked at their son. "Me neither. What do you think, little guy?"

Harry looked at them, he didn't make any expression but she wasn't expecting one. Faith chuckled. "He looks like you."

"I have a feeling that he'll act more like you," Will said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Simply that he'll be smart. And determined. And impossible to ignore."


End file.
